In most professions and academic fields, imagination is more important than knowledge.

Knowledge can be referred to as the assimilation of facts, theories, information and experiences. While imagination is the integration of our thoughts, ideas and concepts. Both knowledge and imagination are linked in one way or the other. So, to say whether imagination is more important than knowledge or the other way around is not appropriate. Rather, both are important but to different extent.

The importance of knowledge and imagination can be implied to various fields. Consider the case of an engineering drawing(ED) teacher. The teacher not only needs to have the proper knowledge of the subject but strong imagination of the 3D figures in order to teach the students well and to convey that information to them. In case of ED one needs to have a pictorial view or imagination of the solid figures in 3D and the knowledge to present that 3D figure on paper that is in 2D. So, there needs to be a strong correlation between knowledge and imagination.

Now, if we consider the case of a history teacher or a mathematics teacher, the case is not the same. The mathematics teacher must have proper knowledge and grasp of the formulae and the theorems to be taught. Moreover, the history teacher should possess proper knowledge of the battles fought and won in the history and of the various dynasties and their rulers. There is no scope of imagination here.

Let us take the example of the famous scientist Newton and the falling apple scenario. While Newton was sleeping, an apple fell on his head and from there his journey to be a famous scientist began. If Newton had not imagined the whole situation and worked on it, applied his knowledge, how could he discover the fact of gravitation. The concept of gravitation was the net result of his imagination as well as his knowledge applied in the scene.

So, knowledge and imagination are equally important according to the situation or the reqirement. Sometimes mere knowledge is enough to fulfill the cause and vice-versa. So, we cannot conclude well whether imagination is more important or knowledge.