Kreativität und Chemie?

Creativity describes the potential of any human being to make something new and relevant for the environment, by means of metacognitive strategies which are particularly based on breaking out of familiar structures and recombining existing knowledge. In chemistry research, creativity most notably is needed in five moments: generating research questions, planning experimental investigations, formulating hypotheses, generating theories and models and presenting research results. Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, who reflected on the role of imagination in science as early as the 19th century, and Stefan Hell, who even in the face of adversity overthrew a scientific postulate, that seems to be irrevocable for more than 100 years, are two examples, which are suitable to illustrate the role of creativity in chemistry.