The art of invention : the creative process of discovery and design

Paley, Steven J. 1955- (Author).

Record details

ISBN: 1616142235 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN: 9781616142230 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Physical Description: 236 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
print
Publisher: Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, 2010.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

PART I. THE PROCESS OF INVENTION -- Chapter 1. The Paper Clip and the Problem -- What Makes a Great Idea Great? -- The History of the Paper Clip -- What's the Problem? -- Is It the Right Problem? -- Reframing the Problem -- The Evolving Invention -- Invention in Context -- Chapter 2. The Hidden Obvious -- The Destination -- Being Confidently Naive -- The Vision and the Visionary -- Needfinding and Paradigms -- Seeing the Hidden Obvious -- The Vision Refined -- Chapter 3. Creativity and the Brain -- The Creative Mind -- Feeding the Brain -- Listening to Your Subconscious -- Thinking with the Gut -- Your Inner Senses -- Working Ideas, Percolation, and Not Falling in Love -- Action versus Thought: The Importance of Doing -- Chapter 4. The Process of Invention -- The Flash of Inspiration -- The Resonance of an Idea -- Sources of Innovation -- Applications of Life Experience -- Making the Familiar New -- Applying Physical Principles -- Accidental and Chance Observations -- Learning from Nature -- The Processes of Invention -- PART II. DESIGN AND INVENTION -- Chapter 5. Simplicity -- Profound Simplicity -- The Simple and the Complex -- Zero Mass Design -- Chapter 6. Elegance -- The Many Facets of Elegance -- Ingenious Simplicity: The Most from the Least -- Core Inventions: From Screws to Microprocessors -- Adaptive Inventions: The Elegance of Self-Regulation -- Smart Inventions: Inventions That Change with Change -- Characteristics of Elegance---A Summary -- Chapter 7. Robustness -- Strength -- Redundancy -- Simplicity -- Self-Healing -- Managed Failure -- PART III. MAKING IT HAPPEN -- Chapter 8. Problem Solving and Iteration -- A Systems Approach: Connect the Big Pieces First -- KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid -- Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 -- What You Couldn't See from There, You Can See from Here -- Attacking from the Bottom -- Inventing while You Sleep -- Arbitrate and Iterate -- Limiting the Scope -- Stopping -- Putting It All Together -- Anticipating the Unanticipated -- Documentation -- Summary -- Chapter 9. The Business of Invention -- Inventing as an Employee -- Selling Your Inventions -- Entrepreneurship: Starting Your Own Company -- Patents -- The Business of Invention -- Chapter 10. The Art of Invention -- The Unexplored: Hard Work, Fear, and Fantasy -- Experience and Invention -- The Art of Getting It Wrong -- The Hidden Obvious Revisited -- Serendipity -- The Staircase of Creativity -- The Pleasure of the Problem -- The Inventor's Tool Kit -- Making It Real -- The Art and the Science -- The Future Is Yours to Create.