Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In this entertaining and insightful exploration of the process of invention, an experienced inventor vividly illustrates how great inventions embody three crucial characteristics--simplicity, elegance, and robustness. 

Whether you're an aspiring inventor or an experienced designer, the author's expertise, personal examples, and case studies offer detailed guidance on conceptualizing your ideas and turning them into reality. The author shows how ideas can come from a variety of sources such as the natural world, basic physical principles, life experience, or even chance observations. He examines how intuition and the harnessing of subconscious information are key ingredients for the inventive process.

He concludes with an in-depth look at the business of invention and the typical inventor's toolkit. He addresses the real-world challenges of turning a good idea into a practical, marketable application, including patents, marketing, and entrepreneurship. He is candid about the realities of hard work and the need to learn from the inevitable mistakes along the way.

Full of insights and practical guidance from a successful inventor and entrepreneur, this book will open new avenues of creativity for budding and accomplished inventors alike.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction (p. 13)
• Part I The Process of Invention
• Chapter 1 The Paper Clip and the Problem (p. 19)
• What Makes a Great Idea Great? (p. 19)
• The History of the Paper Clip (p. 21)
• What's the Problem? (p. 23)
• Is It the Right Problem? (p. 25)
• Reframing the Problem (p. 27)
• The Evolving Invention (p. 27)
• Invention in Context (p. 29)
• Chapter 2 The Hidden Obvious (p. 31)
• The Destination (p. 31)
• Being Confidently Naive (p. 32)
• The Vision and the Visionary (p. 34)
• Needfinding and Paradigms (p. 36)
• Seeing the Hidden Obvious (p. 39)
• The Vision Refined (p. 44)
• Chapter 3 Creativity and the Brain (p. 51)
• The Creative Mind (p. 51)
• Feeding the Brain (p. 53)
• Listening to Your Subconscious (p. 55)
• Thinking with the Gut (p. 58)
• Your Inner Senses (p. 59)
• Working Ideas, Percolation, and Not Falling in Love (p. 61)
• Action versus Thought: The Importance of Doing (p. 63)
• Chapter 4 The Process of Invention (p. 65)
• The Flash of Inspiration (p. 65)
• The Resonance of an Idea (p. 72)
• Sources of Innovation (p. 72)
• Applications of Life Experience (p. 73)
• Making the Familiar New (p. 76)
• Applying Physical Principles (p. 77)
• Accidental and Chance Observations (p. 83)
• Learning from Nature (p. 86)
• The Processes of Invention (p. 97)
• Part II Design and Invention
• Chapter 5 Simplicity (p. 101)
• Profound Simplicity (p. 101)
• The Simple and the Complex (p. 111)
• Zero Mass Design (p. 114)
• Chapter 6 Elegance (p. 117)
• The Many Facets of Elegance (p. 117)
• Ingenious Simplicity: The Most from the Least (p. 119)
• Core Inventions: From Screws to Microprocessors (p. 128)
• Adaptive Inventions: The Elegance of Self-Regulation (p. 130)
• Smart Inventions: Inventions That Change with Change (p. 133)
• Characteristics of Elegance-A Summary (p. 142)
• Chapter 7 Robustness (p. 143)
• Strength (p. 143)
• Redundancy (p. 145)
• Simplicity (p. 147)
• Self-Healing (p. 148)
• Managed Failure (p. 151)
• Part III Making it Happen
• Chapter 8 Problem Solving and Iteration (p. 157)
• A Systems Approach: Connect the Big Pieces First (p. 158)
• KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid (p. 159)
• Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3 (p. 160)
• What You Couldn't See from There, You Can See from Here (p. 162)
• Attacking from the Bottom (p. 163)
• Inventing while You Sleep (p. 165)
• Arbitrate and Iterate (p. 166)
• Limiting the Scope (p. 166)
• Stopping (p. 167)
• Putting It All Together (p. 168)
• Anticipating the Unanticipated (p. 169)
• Documentation (p. 170)
• Summary (p. 171)
• Chapter 9 The Business of Invention (p. 173)
• Inventing as an Employee (p. 173)
• Selling Your Inventions (p. 176)
• Entrepreneurship: Starting Your Own Company (p. 179)
• Patents (p. 186)
• The Business of Invention (p. 191)
• Chapter 10 The Art of Invention (p. 193)
• The Unexplored: Hard Work, Fear, and Fantasy (p. 193)
• Experience and Invention (p. 194)
• The Art of Getting It Wrong (p. 196)
• The Hidden Obvious Revisited (p. 197)
• Serendipity (p. 199)
• The Staircase of Creativity (p. 201)
• The Pleasure of the Problem (p. 203)
• The Inventor's Tool Kit (p. 204)
• Making It Real (p. 204)
• The Art and the Science (p. 205)
• The Future Is Yours to Create (p. 206)
• Acknowledgments (p. 207)
• Notes (p. 209)
• Bibliography (p. 215)
• Index (p. 221)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

"The goal of any design is to be simple, elegant and robust," Paley states early in his passionate first book, and this guiding principle runs throughout his examination of the process of invention. Paley knows his subject matter well. He includes anecdotes about his own inventions and those of his father, such as the MicroDuster, "a can of compressed gas used for cleaning in critical environments." The author also focuses on the work of others, exploring inventions from the paper clip to the personal computer in an attempt to demonstrate the creative mental processes that drive innovation. According to Paley, defining the need comes first: "The more specific and well-defined the problem; the clearer the solution," he writes. After the need is defined, a good invention requires a research phase, brainstorming, and a period of time where the subconscious mind works on the problem until it arrives at a clear solution. Then begin refining and testing. Clearly, Paley's system has application to any creative undertaking, and readers across a wide spectrum of occupations and interests will find inspiration. Illus. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

CHOICE Review

This wonderful book is about creativity, invention, and the process details for achieving the end goal. Simplicity, elegance, robustness, and iteration are some of the key ideas. The book is well organized into three parts: "The Process of Invention," "Design and Invention," and "Making It Happen." The numerous examples of real-world inventions bring life to the process in important ways that a purely academic approach would stifle. Paley mines his many years of experience as an inventor, design engineer, and entrepreneur to expose the whole art of invention. If one desires to turn that sense of wonder into a successful invention in today's highly competitive world, this "behind the scenes" approach provides both the inspiration and the practical guidance for all age groups. Photos, diagrams, and chapter notes supplement a thoroughly engaging presentation. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels of readership. F. Potter formerly, University of California, Irvine