If you've been on this blog for a while, you must know that sleep is a time of connective thinking and deep creativity. In fact, there are many exceptional individuals who have used both intentional and spontaneous sleep thinking as a catalyst for innovation; I would even dare to argue that sleep thinking is exactly what enabled them to succeed and make groundbreaking contributions in their fields. In this article, we will explore the lives and achievements of seven remarkable scientists and creators who embraced the phenomenon of sleep thinking to reshape the landscape of their respective domains.

7. Visual Arts: Salvador Dalí

When you think of the 20th-century art movement known as surrealism, what comes to mind is probably the famous Spanish painter Salvador Dalí. Dalí and his fellow surrealists embraced the concept of the "paranoiac-critical" method, a technique that involved tapping into the unconscious to unlock new artistic visions. His dreamlike paintings, inspired by hypnagogic images birthed in the state between wakefulness and sleep and characterized by distorted figures and bizarre landscapes imbued with symbolism, have challenged traditional artistic conventions and continue to inspire generations of artists. Besides 1500 paintings, Dalí also created sculptures and jewelry and worked extensively in the world of film and theater.

6. Literature: Mary Shelley

One of the most iconic literary classics was inspired by a dream. The Shelleys were a part of a literary circle that included George Gordon and Lord Byron and regularly held all-night discussions on scientific and supernatural topics (ugh, I wish I had such friends). After one such conversation, Byron suggested a friendly horror story competition. Thinking about what she could write about, Mary allegedly had a vivid dream about a scientist reanimating a lifeless body, an image that served as the foundation for her first novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (click here for a review). Published anonymously in 1818, this gothic masterpiece was an instant success, sparking philosophical discussions on the nature of life and scientific ethics. Many authors are actually aware that their minds work on their writing projects while they sleep, connecting ideas, filling plot holes, and, of course, providing them with inspiration.

5. Invention: Elias Howe

Elias Howe had been working on designing a sewing machine for years and was struggling with a significant roadblock in perfecting his creation. Then one night, Howe dreamt that a cannibal king had ordered his execution because he had not been able to perfect a lockstitch sewing machine. As the warriors approached him, he noticed that the spears had eye-shaped holes in the tips. Upon awaking, Howe realized that the hole at the tip of the needle may be the missing element in his invention, and, sure enough, as he constructed a model of such a needle, he realized that he had found the key to designing the first successful sewing machine.

4. Organic Chemistry: August Kekulé

The German chemist August Kekulé, too, had spent years trying to unravel the structure of the benzene molecule. Then, having dozed off in his armchair one night, he saw atoms dancing before his eyes, condensing in chains, twisting and turning like snakes. One of the snakes bit its own tail and spun around. Upon seeing this, he jerked awake and spent the rest of the night working on the idea. This dream-inspired revelation revolutionized our understanding of organic compounds and laid the foundation for modern organic chemistry.

3. Neuroscience: Otto Loewi

Neuroscience, the same science that explores brain-related phenomena like sleep, has benefited from sleep thinking itself. Otto Loewi, a German physiologist, had come up with a new theory about the transmission of nerve impulses through synapses via chemicals, but he had yet to figure out how to prove it. One night 17 years later, he awoke and jotted down on a piece of paper a few notes that he was unable to decipher in the morning despite the sense of having written down something very important. Fortunately, the idea returned to him the next night, and having woken up in the morning, he rushed to the laboratory and conducted a simple experiment on the heart of a frog that he had dreamt about, ultimately confirming the existence of neurotransmitters and laying the foundation for our understanding of how nerves communicate.

2. Physics: Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein, one of the best-known scientific geniuses, known for coming up with the groundbreaking theory of relativity, reportedly slept for 10 hours each night. The theory of special relativity is said to have come to him in a dream about cows being electrocuted. Einstein experienced numerous breakthroughs and scientific insights during periods of deep contemplation and sleep, and his achievements have won him the Nobel Prize.

1. Chemistry: Dmitri Mendeleev

It is extremely difficult to imagine a chemistry lesson without the periodic table of chemical elements, devised by Dmitri Mendeleev. The scientist allegedly used to spend his time on trains playing with cards containing the elements and their properties, trying to fit them into a system. eventually, during a night of restless sleep, Mendeleev envisioned the elements arranging themselves in a pattern. Upon waking, he quickly wrote down exactly what he had seen, swapping just a few elements whose locations were wrong, and his dream-inspired system revolutionized the field of chemistry (and not only).

These seven are by no means the only ones. There are countless sleep thinkers, several of them world-famous, like Nicola Tesla and Thomas Edison, who developed a special nap-thinking method for accessing the creative power of hypnagogic states, as well as Paul McCartney, who woke up with Yesterday playing in his mind. These notable sleep thinkers demonstrate the immense power of the sleeping mind in generating transformative ideas and shaping our understanding of the world. From chemistry and physics to literature and art, these individuals pushed the boundaries of their respective fields by harnessing the potential of sleep thinking. Their stories serve as a reminder that creativity can emerge from unexpected sources, and by embracing our sleeping minds, we can unlock new realms of knowledge and drive innovation in countless domains. Never underestimate your dreaming mind!