Breaking Through explores how creativity is expressed through the work of modern engineers. We think of creativity in terms of painting, music, drama, and literature. Rarely do we reflect on the creative impulse of the people who strive to give shape to our material world, built environment, and systems of information and power.

Case studies in the exhibition are intended to provoke reflection about the kind of thinking that allows an engineer to break through the ordinary and give birth to something novel. They are also meant to stimulate ideas about both the special and the universal characteristics of creative work.

The cases are organized around eight themes that suggest some of the elements of creativity -- by no means the only ones -- in engineering and in other areas of life. These themes are: challenging, connecting, visualizing, collaborating, harmonizing, improvising, reorienting, and synthesizing.

The examples illustrate the range and variety of creative engineering at the end of the 20th century. They are not meant to represent the "most creative" or "most important" technologies of our time, though some could certainly be candidates. Regard them as vehicles for prodding you to think about just what it means to be creative, and how important creativity is -- both for engineering and for the human condition. And consider how you can be a bit more creative, whatever it is you do.