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An invention is an object, process, or technique which displays an element of novelty. An invention may sometimes be based on earlier developments, collaborations or ideas, and the process of invention requires at least the awareness that an existing concept or method can be modified or transformed into an invention. However, some inventions also represent a radical breakthrough in science or technology which extends the boundaries of human knowledge. Legal protection can sometimes be granted to an invention by way of a patent.

The process of invention

Over time, humanity has invented objects and methods for accomplishing tasks which fulfill some purpose in a new or different manner, usually with the objective of realising that purpose in a faster, more efficient, easier or cheaper way.

Although it is evident that people do invent, the circumstances which facilitate or optimise the development of inventions is less clear. One school of thought, popularized in the phrase "necessity is the mother of invention", argues that in essence, lack of resources leads to invention, while the opposing school of thought argues that it is only an excess of resources which has this result. However, the actual position may not be understood simply by reference to one or the other of these many perspectives.

Ideas as a starting point

Although a new or useful object or method may be developed to fulfill a specific purpose, the original idea may never be fully realised as a working invention, perhaps because the concept is in some way unrealistic or impractical.

A "castle in the air" or a "pie in the sky" (or "castles in Spain") may refer to a creative idea which does not reach fruition due to practical considerations. The history of invention is full of such castles, because inventions are not necessarily invented in the order that is most useful; for example, the design of the parachute was worked out before the invention of powered flight. Other inventions simply solve problems for which there is no economic incentive to provide a solution.

On the other hand, any barriers to implementation may simply be an issue of engineering or technology which can be overcome in time with scientific advances. History is also replete with examples of ideas which have taken some time to reach physical reality, as demonstrated by various ideas originally attributed to Leonardo da Vinci which are now expressed in everyday physical form.

Commercialization

Inventors may be inspired to invent through a desire to create something new or better, simple altruism, or for competitive or commercial reasons. An invention may also result from a combination of these motivating factors. Although many inventors may have in mind the commercialization of their product, very few will secure the funding and support often needed to develop and launch a product in the marketplace, and fewer still will experience lasting commercial success or the economic reward they may have expected. However, inventor associations and clubs and business incubators can be used to provide the mentoring, commercial skills and economic resources which private inventors may often lack. Entrepreneurship and an awareness of the demands of a changing marketplace are typical characteristics of successful inventors.

Most great inventors developed countless prototypes, changing their designs innumerable times. Today much emphasis is placed on research and development, prototyping and finding solutions.

Inventions are one of the chief examples of "positive externalities" (an economist's name for a beneficial side-effect that falls on those outside a transaction or activity). One of the central concepts of economics is that externalities should be internalized: unless some of the benefits of this positive externality can be captured by the parties, the parties will be under-rewarded for their inventions, and systematic under-rewarding will lead to under-investment in activities that lead to inventions. One important economic effect of the patent system is to capture those positive externalities for the inventor (or the party that hired the inventor), so that the economy as a whole will invest a more-closely-optimum amount of resources in the process of invention.

Innovation

Following the terminology of political economist Joseph Schumpeter, an invention differs from an innovation. While an invention is merely theoretical (even though the legal protection of a patent may have been sought), an innovation is an invention that has been put into practice. However, these conflicts with the theory of social anthropologists and other social sciences researchers. In social sciences, an innovation is anything new to a culture. The innovation does not need to have been adopted. The theory for adoption (or non-adoption) of an innovation is called diffusion of innovations. This theory, first put forth by Everett Rogers, considers the likelihood that an innovation will ever be adopted and the taxonomy of persons likely to adopt it or spur its adoption. Gabriel Tarde also dealt with the adoption of innovations in his Laws of Imitation.

Bibliography

Asimov, Isaac. Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery, Harper & Row, 1989. ISBN 0-06-015612-0
De Bono, Edward, "Eureka! An Illustrated History of Inventions from the Wheel to the Computer", Thames & Hudson, 1974.
Gowlett, John. Ascent to Civilization, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1992. ISBN 0-07-544312-0
Platt, Richard, "Eureka!: Great Inventions and How They Happened", 2003.

External links

Doodles, Drafts and Designs: Industrial Drawings from the Smithsonian (2004) Smithsonian Institution Libraries
List of PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) Notable Inventions (on the WIPO web site)

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 ==External links==
+*''[http://www.sil.si.edu/exhibitions/doodles/ Doodles, Drafts and Designs: Industrial Drawings from the Smithsonian]'' (2004) Smithsonian Institution Libraries
 * [http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/inventions/inventions.html List of PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) Notable Inventions] (on the [[WIPO]] web site)