Invention Help

Category: Inventions

  • Innovative Definition

    What is the definition of innovative? What does innovative mean, and how do you define it? Good question.

    There are several definitions or ways to understanding the word innovative and I will go through them below:

    The word ‘innovative’ is an adjective, which means that it describes something else (which is known as a noun). The adjective innovative can describe either a product, idea, service, gadget, widget or ‘thing’, it can describe a brand, company, research lab or university, or it can describe a person or group of people.

    But what is the definition of innovative?

    Innovative definition: Innovative: a quality that describes that something (a person, a service, an idea, etc) is original, unique, cutting-edge, advanced, creative, novel or inventive. It can describe how a service does something differently from other services in the market, how a product does something creatively or solves a problem or need in an original and novel way, or how a person has a new and fresh way of thinking that distinguishes him or her from other people in his or her industry, workplace or school

    Etymology of the word innovative:

    The word ‘innovative’ originates from the word ‘innovate’. Innovate derives from the Latin word innovatus, which is past participle of innovare. ‘Innovare’ means ‘to renew’ or ‘to change’. This explains how the words innovative came to mean what it does today. ‘To renew’ is another way of saying to make something new again. In other words to make it fresh or to breathe new life into something that had gone stale. It implies that there is a traditional and stale way of doing things, and what makes something innovative is how it makes doing that thing or process new again.

    A very simple example is the idea of an electric toothbrush. The toothbrush in various forms has been around since the 13th century in China. For over 700 years it has been used in a similar way. Then suddenly in 1954 a Swiss inventor decided to innovate on the toothbrush invention, and invented the first electric toothbrush. We can safely say that the electric toothbrush is an innovative way of using the toothbrush, because it makes the brushing of the teeth more rapid and effective. The idea to electrify it was incredibly innovative, and ‘renewed’ the way that we use the toothbrush.

    I hope that the innovative definition is more clear to you now. And I hope that you are now inspired to be innovative in whatever you do, and to innnovate or ‘renew’ things that have become stale!

  • Who Invented Peanut Butter

    Since the invention of peanut butter is actually completely natural, no-one can take credit or receive as the individual who invented peanut butter.

    However the invention of peanut butter has quite an interesting history, and some myths along the way too.

    One thing we can say for certain is that the people who invented peanut butter lived in the American tropics, simply because that’s where peanuts are natively found.

    Several hundred years ago, the native American Aztecs mixed and mashed peanuts and turned it into a paste. How or why they did this is unknown, but it was certainly a stroke of genius on their part!

    The modern equivalent of peanut butter is better known. The man who invented modern peanut butter was Marcellus Gilmore Edson who hailed from Canada. He filed a US patent application that was issued in 1884 (patent number #306727), which he entitled “Manufacture of Peanut-Candy”. You can view his detailed process and description for making peanut butter here. Simply put, Edson’s peanut butter invention was to mill roasted peanuts amidst a hot or heated surface in order to transform the peanuts into ‘fluid’ form. The result was not quite what we have today, but certainly laid the foundation for the peanut butter paste that we spread on our bread or biscuits. What is fascinating is how Edson described his process in such detail, which was available for all the public to see (and thus copy). Sometimes it is best to keep your recipes private!

    Next a well-known innovator enters the picture. His name is none other than JH Kellogg (recognize the name?). Kellogg also filed a patent application shortly after Edson, and received it in 1897 for a peanut butter invention, which used peanuts to produce a substance he entitled ‘nut butter’. It is starting to come together.

    Then, just 6 years later, in 1093 a man named Dr. Ambrose Straub filed a patent for a machine that made peanut butter. So we can credit Straub as the man who invented the peanut butter making machine.

    As a sidenote, there is a myth that does the rounds in the US that a man named George Washington Carver was the inventor of peanut butter. Well it turns out this myth is false. Carver invented ways and means to use peanuts, well over 300 in fact, but none of these related to peanut butter (amazingly). That’s because peanut butter was invented prior to his uses for peanuts!

     

  • When was the first car invented

    If you want to know when was the first car invented, I’ll have to take you back to the 17th century in China. A Belgian missionary named Ferdinand Verbiest invented what is regarded as the first car.

    He designed the car specially for the use of the Emperor of China.

    Verbiest was living in China as a missionary, but he was evidently quite a brilliant inventor as well.

    The first car measured roughly 65 cm long, and because it was so small, it could only carry one person, who was as a result both the passenger and the driver!

    The first car was invented to make use of steam technology, where the jet of steam hit a mechanism that used the steam’s force to turn the front wheels of the car. So the first car was also the first environmentally friendly vehicle as well.

    Verbiest tested his invention in the Imperial Palace in Beijing. So we can say that the first car test drive was another achievement of Verbiest. He was able to maneuver the vehicle using a a stick from the wheels to the driver’s seat, that allowed him to turn the wheels of the car towards the left or right.

    The test drive was a big success, and onlookers cheered and praised the inventor. Even the Emperor was very impressed, and awarded the inventor with honors.

    Unfortunately, the first car to be invented was never considered more than a toy, and the people of the age could not envision the possibility of using it for mass transport. So Verbiest’s invention never made it beyond that first prototype.

     

  • Isaac Newton Inventions

    Sir Isaac Newton is recognized as one of the greatest geniuses to have ever lived.

    Isaac Newton inventions have quite literally made a profound impact on science, mathematics, gravitation astronomy, optics and chemistry.

    Issac Newton’s inventions span a vast area of subjects and sciences. I will briefly speak about a few Isaac Newton Inventions that made the most impact on the world as we know it.

    Isaac Newton invented the reflecting telescope (also called the Newtonian telescope), which makes use of mirrors in order to reflect and enhance light onto a particular surface. Whenever you see images of planets, moons, or solar systems you can thank Isaac Newton for the work he did in making this happen. Based on the reflecting telescope, Newton invented a color system or theory that explained why light becomes split into a variety of colors when passing through a mirror or transparent object.

    Another Isaac Newton invention is what is known as the Calculus (another mathematician known at Gottfried Leibniz also worked on the calculus during this time). The calculus is a complex mathematical theoretical system that is today used in abstract mathematics, astronomy, geometry, financial mathematics and statistics. Also in mathematics, Newton invented what is popularly known as Newton’s method, which aids math boffins to approximate the roots of functions.

    Issac Newton didn’t ‘invent’ the law of gravity, but he certainly discovered it and was able to explain it mathematically. He also studied gravitation in relation to planets and the universe, and invented a way to explain what is known as the ‘law of universal gravitation’ and most famously the ‘laws of motion’. It’s unlikely an apple ever hit Newton’s head, but he used the anecdote of watching apples fall from trees as what sparked his interest in gravity.

  • Necessity is the mother of invention

    What does ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ mean?

    You often hear people use that saying that ‘necessity is the mother of invention’ but don’t necessarily know what it means.

    Well think about it for a minute. Let’s break up the phrase into different parts to make it more understandable.

    Necessity

    What does necessity mean? Well the simplest meaning of necessity is to think of the word ‘necessary’ (it sounds a lot like necessity doesn’t it? That’s because they both have the same root). When you say that A is necessary for B to happen, it means that B cannot happen without A happening. For example water is necessary for plants to survive.

    Necessity is not too different. It means that something is indispensable or important in a particular situation or circumstance. Like when someone says ‘Education is a necessity for a successful society’, they mean that without education the society would not be successful without education.

    Mother

    A mother gives birth to a child. That much is obvious. So using the word ‘mother’ in a metaphorical sense means giving birth to, creating, or making something where it did not exist before.

    So now you know what ‘necessity’ and ‘mother’ means in the context we have been talking about. So how do we apply it to ‘necessity is the mother of invention’?

    Pretty easily. You might even be able to work it out by yourself by now.

    It’s obvious that something is invented as a result of a need that hasn’t yet been fulfilled. For example mobile telephones were invented to meet the need of people communicating while they are out and about. In other words there was a necessity for people to communicate when they were not at home. It was necessary for people to have a mobile phone so that they could communicate wherever they were.

    Necessity is the mother of invention

    Which brings us to the final piece in the puzzle. ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’ means that the necessity for something to occur makes it very likely that something will be invented to meet that need. In other words the necessity for something gives birth to an invention. Necessity is the mother of invention!