Creative judgments in scientific discovery: Lessons from early electrophysiology

This paper develops a heuristic framework for understanding creative scientific judgment and demonstrates it through electrophysiology's development from the late 18th to early 20th century. I identify four patterns through which creative judgments manifest in scientific discovery: disruptive discovery, gap identification and boundary probing, technique-mediated discovery, and conceptual reframing. Drawing on Sánchez-Dorado's (2023) analysis, I argue that these creative judgments are characterised by 'pursuitworthiness'-their recognised potential to yield epistemic benefits if further explored. Historical episodes-Galvani's detection of animal electricity, du Bois-Reymond's instrumental innovations, Hermann's challenge to prevailing frameworks, and Bernstein's membrane theory-demonstrate how scientists navigated between established frameworks and their own extensions or revisions. This paper conceives scientific creativity as skilled judgment that illuminates overlooked aspects of epistemic tradition while articulating promising directions for future investigation.