How to Fly a Horse: The Secret History of Creation, Invention, and Discovery

How to Fly a Horse: The Secret History of Creation, Invention, and Discovery (2015) is a nonfiction book by Kevin Ashton about creativity. Ashton has led three start-ups and was a pioneer in the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) in inventory systems, underscoring his business credibility in this area. His thesis extends into the creative process involved in any field, including art and medicine. 

Ashton’s main point strikes an open and democratic tone: Being creative is part of the human condition and is thus open to everyone. Creativity isn’t reserved for a special elite few, as commonly thought, but only requires hard work. Just as there is no such thing as “creative walking,” he argues, there is no “creative thinking.” Everyone is born with this ability, and when we call something creative, we are actually referring to what results from thinking, not the process of thinking.

The author uses a mix of scientific research and stories from history to prove his point. He deflates myths surrounding famous people and the source of their ideas, such as Mozart’s compositions and Einstein’s theory of relativity, showing that they were not the result of sudden flashes of insight but rather the result of hard work involving many steps.