
Indeed, an extreme example.  It came "out of nowhere."  The connection
Kekule saw between it and his problem is fortunate but not extraordinary.
I, for example, often receive/conjure solutions (hypotheses for solutions) 
to my everyday problems at moments when I appear to myself to be occupied 
with activities quite removed.  Algorithms for that new software feature come
when I trample the meadow on my occasional runs.  Alternative (better>) ways 
to instruct and rear my sons arrive while I weed the garden.  I'll swear I am 
not thinking about any of it when ideas come.   

These ideas are not the stuff of "great" discoveries, of course, but my
connecting them to particular problems is fraught with deliberation and
occasional fits of rationality.


Yes.  And he was lucky to have such a colorful, vivid image.  I, alas, will
never figure out why returning worms to the loose soil of my garden brought, 
"have him count objects instead of merely count" to mind regarding my 2 
year-old's fledging arithmetic skills.


The latter.  Worms wiggling around in the dirt fascinate my son.

Regards,

Ted 