If you publish... you are trying to create something thatisoriginal,thatstandsoutfromthecrowd...Above all, you want to create something you are proud of... Richard Branson (2002, p. 57). After the publication of my bestselling International Handbook on Innovation, p- lishers from around the world began to invite me to work on new books with them. When Springer invited me to prepare the International Handbook on Giftedness,I was on a maternity leave with my 3-months-old and my 5-year-old was just starting school. I, however, had wanted to prepare such a Handbook for a long time and was waiting for just the right moment to dive right into such an endeavor. The time had come and I agreed to prepare a Handbook that would expose readers to new views, great discoveries, and signi?cant advancements of scienti?c knowledge, exactly as Richard Feynman advised (see his opening quote at the beginning of the introductory chapter). I have always been convinced of the paramount signi?cance of the topic of gi- edness and gifted education to the world as a whole. There is no doubt that gifted individuals were, are, and will be extremely important to society. One way to und- stand the history of human civilization is via inventions and discoveries of the gifted. All human cultural development builds on the amazing technological, scienti?c, e- cational, and moral achievements of the human mind. Today, people increasingly realize that gifted and talented individuals are even more important than in the past.
This Handbook is the most comprehensive and authoritative account available on what giftedness is, how it is measured, how it develops, and how it affects individuals and societies. Leading specialists from around the world analyze the multifaceted nature of giftedness, its types, its specificity in various domains and contexts, societal demands on it, its relationship to economy, recent advances and innovations in gifted education, and future trends.
The Handbook goes beyond the existing handbooks: it analyzes, integrates, and presents research on giftedness that has not been considered elsewhere (e.g., neuropsychology of giftedness, talent in cinema, managerial talent). It discusses the latest advances in the fast-developing areas of giftedness research and practice (e.g., gifted education and policy implications). It presents fresh ideas (e.g., polymathy and entrepreneurial giftedness), which will galvanize and guide the study of giftedness for the future.
"This definitive handbook has collected an assemblage of the best scholars and practitioners in the field. It will be a necessary reference for all in the gifted field." Robert J. Sternberg, Tufts University, USA
"This is an ambitious book. Complex theoretical pieces as well as straightforward discussions of educational practices are evident. The International Handbook on Giftedness belongs in one’s personal library." Laurence J. Coleman, Daso Herb Chair in Gifted Studies, University of Toledo, USA
"This new and comprehensive International Handbook provides a valuable complement to the existing literature in several ways. It updates research summaries with new material of the current decade, particularly welcome in those few areas in which the field has perceptibly moved forward, such as neuropsychology and the provision of on-line resources. It re-examines conceptions of giftedness, with an emphasis on lifespan development. It provides fresh looks at a variety ofdomains, several of them previously neglected in the standard literature on giftedness, such as talent in cinema, entrepreneurial giftedness, computer technology, managerial talent, and children's inventions of imaginary worlds. Finally, it describes the impact of giftedness on society and the economy and encourages revision of strategies and policies that impact gifted individuals all over the globe. Every reader will find familiar and unfamiliar territory here." Nancy M. Robinson, Professor Emerita of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, USA
