History's Strangest Competitions, Coincidences, and Simultaneous Discoveries

Have you heard of Elisha Gray? Probably not. He showed up at the same patent office two hours after Alexander Graham Bell to pursue a patent for the same invention. This class is packed full of similar bizarre tales about the intersection between individual creativity and culture.

We'll discuss historical stories with relevant lessons for our own creative journeys. We'll break it down into:

- Stories With Lessons For Patience (People who needed to refine their theories or force enormous criticism. We'll focus most on Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace separately and simultaneously forming the theory of evolution.)
- Stories With Lessons For the Perfectionistic (People who lost out while "perfecting" their theories, discoveries, etc. We'll focus most on William Lassell, George Bond, and their observations of Saturn.)
- Stories of Competition and Rivalries (This is where we'll spend the most time. Sir Isaac Newton? He was kind of a bully. We'll talk about why. Plus, what were the "bone (aka fossil) wars" of Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles? )

I teach using a combination of lectures and slide shows while leaving plenty of time for positive interaction and questions. No prior experience is needed to take this class. Students will enjoy the quirky historical facts. Most of all, I hope they walk away with some lessons relevant to building character on their own creative journeys.