Review by Choice Review
Psychologist Weber (Oklahoma State Univ.) dissects inventions both simple and complex to reveal what he calls the "hidden intelligence" in the invented world, then builds upon this process to posit a variety of heuristics that not only help explain the process of invention after the fact, but may serve as "engines" to drive the development of new inventions in the future. As the subtitle suggests, this is less a study of technology itself and very much more a playful exploration of invention as an aspect of human creativity, one which "leaves clearer tracks across time and space" than any other. As such, the process of invention is brought within reach of everyone, particularly through the creation of procedures--not always recognized as inventions (being nonphysical), but here accorded a prominent place in the discussion--and our often daunting technological environment is made to feel a little more humanized and hospitable. Written for the general reader, it offers broad sweep rather than depth of analysis, but is liberally punctuated with both anecdotes and insights (the moral drawn from the creation of the Sony "Walkman" is worth the read all by itself). It ends with a call for better teaching of the principles of technology, and is itself a good contribution toward this goal. A surprising number of distracting editing errors. General; advanced undergraduate. L. W. Moore; formerly, University of Kentucky
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Weber (psychology, Oklahoma State Univ.) examines a wide range of inventions to determine whether hidden principles guided their creation. He develops a taxonomy for classifying inventions and ties it to recurrent heuristics to establish a common thread among many of our more successful inventions. It is difficult to evaluate how well Weber's ideas would work as predictors of future developments, but as explanations of past events, his arguments have a sense of logic and insight. Even if his hindsight is better than his foresight, this is an interesting and entertaining work.-- Hilary D. Burton, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Livermore, Cal. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
First-time author Weber (Psychology/Oklahoma State) on how inventions--from doorknobs to Velcro--come to be. Weber sees invention as ``the connection between technology and the creative spark or crawl of the mind.'' Often, this connection is made by ``parsing''--dividing an invention into its parts or procedures. Thus, the Wright Brothers achieved motorized flight by parsing their goal into problems of lift, power, and control, and addressing each in turn, while rival aeronauts with greater financial resources failed through inadequate analysis. Weber gives lessons on how to describe, compare, and evaluate inventions: An elaborate chart detailing differences between nail and screws is typical and may lead some to wonder whether the writer is belaboring the obvious. Fledgling inventors may be more enthusiastic over Weber's discussion of ``heuristics,'' a ``rule of thumb for generating ideas or for solving problems.'' Heuristics range from repetition (``once an interesting component is discovered...try copying or repeating it as often as necessary'') to linkage (``try joining those tools or devices that undo the actions of one another. These are often useful combinations'') or transformation (how did the tooth evolve into the saw?). Upon this rather abstract loom, Weber weaves the story of dozens of devices, from forks to coffeepots to screws. He dotes on handles and containers (the latter involved in everything from tea bags to cooking pots). Invention is more than objects, as he shows by parsing a supermarket into the various shopping ``procedures'' that make it tick. A final chapter, on gene splicing between different species, draws some doubtful parallels between ancient mythology and modern gene splicing, and is notable for failing to address the moral issues involved. Covers some of the same ground as Henry Petroski's The Evolution of Useful Things (p. 1297), with less flair but more hands-on advice. (Thirty illustrations.)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
