Gelb presents his selection criteria (universality of impact, original revolutionary breakthrough, utlitity to the reader), then presents his Genius Dream Team in chronological order: Plato, Brunelleschi, Columbus, Copernicus, Elizabeth I, Shakespeare, Jefferson, Darwin, Gandhi, and Einstein. In the process the author identifies significant antecedents that influenced and interacted with each team member's comprehensive, often nonacademic, learning and major achievements as well as descriptions of outstanding individuals who benefited from this dream- team's knowledge, values, and insights while contributing mightily to a global audience expanding up to the present time.

Gelb asks the reader to reflect on self-assessment questions (which can be turned into self-affirmations) after extolling in each chapter specific individual's purposes, revolutionary impact, life-style, and breakthrough achievements. Some exercises are lighthearted, relaxing, and fun while others require more serious self-reflection and focus in order to find an enjoyable pace and rhythm. For example, you can make a list of 10 wonderful things, memories, imaginings, observations, dreams, and experiences that filled you with amazement, reverence, and awe. You can imagine and visualize like Albert Einstein, then generate combinatory play and engage in thought experiments. You can concentrate on 10 objects of beauty that you admire and enjoy visualizing. You can strive to open your heart and mind to forgive someone who may have hurt or harmed you in some way. You can practice self-sacrifice, altruism, more sensitive forms of emotional intelligence, communication, leadership, democratic and nonviolent behavior. 

The author encourages us to keep a notebook of daily insights, observations, visualizations, and imaginative experiences. He suggests ways to correct pessimism for more optimism. The author offers ways to strengthen courage; improve memory (e.g. how to use imagery to tell a story to remember the planets in the solar system); establish a bias towards purposeful action; cultivate creativity and problem solving. The author emphasizes how the arts, literature, music, theater, drama, humor, and poetry can inspire meaning, joy, and open-mindedness. All the exercises underscore and can deepen our appreciation of life, civil rights, freedom, choices, and lifetime learning. All can be used to reinforce goals, skills (e.g., listening, leadership, emotional intelligence), and empower reason, passion, creativity, invention, social action, valued achievements.

Discover Your Genius challenges us to know how we can more effectively keep commitments to ourselves as we become aware of inner potential, take on challenges, and new paths to learn about morality, truth, "soul power," service, and humanity. Although the book relies on some word magic and general speculation regarding human behavior, a number of dazzling quotes, interesting book, music, and live resources fill out and complement the learning experience. This book is highly recommended. It provides an ideal, straightforward, classical, self-help and dialogue approach to learning essentials of life from masters who have stood on and towered over the shoulders of giants!