“There is a huge cemetery and a very small nursery”. It was with this metaphor—that of a path populated by ideas that never grow and others that, rarely, become discoveries—that Vítor Cardoso opened the launch session of the book “Assim nasce uma ideia” (“The Birth of an Idea”) on October 16, in the Abreu Faro amphitheatre, at Técnico – Alameda campus.
The book, published by Gradiva, is the result of a collaboration between Vítor Cardoso, professor at Técnico and director of the Center of Gravity at the Niels Bohr Institute, and Ana Carvalho, artist and designer. Over the course of a decade, the authors collected testimonials from researchers, students, and Nobel Prize winners on the origin of ideas in physics—among them are several members of the Técnico community.
“How ideas are born?”
The question that inspired the project was also the starting point for the conversation that brought together the authors and guests Henrique Leitão, science historian and Pessoa Prize winner, and Teresa Firmino, science editor at Público newspaper.
Ana Carvalho recalled that the project began “without a single idea, but with many discussions”. The artist compared the way artists and scientists relate to the creative process: “Artists are encouraged from an early age to reflect on the origin of their work—to write about what they do and why. Scientists, on the other hand, rarely think about that moment of creation, the instant when something new emerges.” The book was born from the desire to “ask scientists directly what happens when they have an idea”, a question that, “surprisingly, had not yet been asked in this way”.
Vítor Cardoso recalled the episode that inspired his contribution to the book. “One day, I was asked if, knowing what I know today, I would have participated in the construction of the atomic bomb”. The physicist shared that, while studying the process of nuclear fission, he realised that “many physical systems, such as black holes, could be affected by similar mechanisms”.
“From this reflection, an idea was born, which I later discovered had already been explored”, he said, eliciting laughter from the audience. “The idea was born and died quickly, but it taught me something essential: it is not easy to silence an idea, especially when the impulse is simply to understand”. Vítor Cardoso pointed out that all the testimonies in the book have one thing in common: “the pain and pleasure of the creative process”. “Many contributors describe the feeling of being in the dark, of not knowing, followed by the moment when the curtain rises. It is the pleasure of understanding—no matter how small the advancement may be. Creating something new may not change the world, but it changes us”.
Teresa Firmino, who moderated the session, pointed out that the book reveals “the human side of scientists, the side that is rarely seen—what goes on behind the scenes of discovery, with the enthusiasm and joy, but also the disappointment and suffering that accompany creation”. She recalled a researcher who, after presenting a hypothesis considered “the stupidest thing anyone had ever heard”, ended up proving, years later, that he was right. “The book shows the weaknesses, the mistakes, and the path from error to understanding—and that unique moment when someone realises they are the only person to discover something”.
At the end of the session, Henrique Leitão highlighted the unique character of the book, which “does not seek to instruct or indoctrinate—only to ask each scientist how their idea was conceived”. The historian considered that the answers reveal “a remarkable purity” and a truth for those in scientific research. “There is an enormous sense of satisfaction when you understand something that you did not understand before. The core of science is not to accumulate information, it is to acquire understanding”, he said.
For Henrique Leitão, the book clearly highlights what “distinguishes creative scientists”: their ability to focus on a specific technical problem for long periods of time. “The life of a creative scientist is the persistence in understanding something that no one else understands yet”, he concluded.
Featuring over a hundred contributions collected over ten years, “The Birth of an Idea” offers a journey through the minds of scientists and the invisible mechanisms of creation. The book highlights curiosity and the desire to understand as the driving forces behind scientific discovery.
Vítor Cardoso won the ULisboa Award 2023 for “his extraordinary contribution to the development of theoretical physics and the progress of science at a global level.” Previously, in 2022, he received a €2 million grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to study black holes, about a year after receiving another €5.3 million grant from the Villum Foundation to create and lead the research group he is part of at the Niels Bohr Institute. In 2025, he was elected president of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation.
Members of Técnico community who have contributed to “The Birth of an Idea”: Amílcar Praxedes, Ana Mourão, António Brotas, Christopher Moore, David Hilditch, Horácio Fernandes, Jorge Dias de Deus, Jorge Rocha, Luís Lemos Alves, Marco Piccardo, Paolo Pani, Pedro Sacramento, Ricardo Schiappa, Rodrigo Panosso Macedo, Sante Carloni, Steve Willison, Teresa Peña, Vasco Guerra, Vincenzo Vitagliano, and Richard Brito.
