The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-04-12
Helping
theBoy
"a
Succeed.
THE INVENTOR.
X &sx Xxx ss X \

THE INVENTOR.
Facts About inventors and Inventions
The Stuff Inventors Are Made Of.
BY Nathaniel C. Fowler Jr.
Author of "The Boy-How to Help
him Succeed" and other books.
| Article No. 10.
Copyright. 1903, by Nathl C. Fowler,
Jr
+ invention is occasionally the result
| of accident Sometimes we hear of
discoveries being made by unframed
| men OF ordinary capacity who have
never before invented or discovered
anything and who have never given
invention or discovery more than a
passing interest; but substantially all
| invention Is the result Of intention and
frequently the elimination of years of
continuous study and deepest research.
The inventor is a genius. Some
| times he is only q genius. Often he
| appears to show little other ability,
and If he does, he may not know how
| to handle 1t, and Is not at all likely to
| be able to market it.
The inventor is, and Of necessity
must be, self-educated as well as
school-taught man. Some of our
| greatest inventors were not especially
school-trained, but they were educated
| nevertheless. Education is an essen
| tial part of invention.
The inventor always knows some
thing, generally a great deal of some
one something. He is an absorber of
single knowledge if not of broad in
fNN. - l.
eXperimenter. Probably he is too
i much of a theorist, and does not un-
derstand how to profitably mix theory
with practice.
| The inventor is virtually theorist;
| first, anyway, and practitioner after
! wards.
Without theory, there can be no
pratice; without practice there is lit
tie use for theory; but as the material
for practice is born of theory, or is
the development of theory, so must
invention begin with theory, and un-
fortunately it often ends there through
no fault of invention but through the
inability Of the inventor to properly
finish his inventions, in fact, lack of
finish accompanied seventy-five per
cent Of inventions.
| = Probably 80 per cent of inventions
are worth substantially nothing, and
mot more than l per cent pay q re-
spectacle profit.
l. a very few inventors have become
| millfonaires. A few have acquired
riches, and a limited number have
gained a competency.
The value of an invention lies first
! in what 1t will do; second, is it suffi-
GENTLY new or so different from any
other that 1T can be properly protect
ed? -. 80,
T. Probably three-fourths of the inven-
lions co TO inf i'm @ho&
they are hardly worth the patenting
Unfortunately, and wrongly, too, the
| present condition of civilization is op-
posed to giving credit where credit is
due, and the inventor often mortgages
his body and pawns his mind in an at
tempt to make a great public helping
discovery or invention, and for his
work and sacrifice receives little or
nothing; and seldom If ever, anywhere
near what he deserves.
| Commercially, the value of an in
-Vention is very much dependent upon
| the promotion of that invention. If
| the inventor invents a good thing. a
| labor saving machine, for instance, and
properly protects it with patents, and
| places 1t In the hands Of honorable and
| competent business men, he is likely to
realize some profit from 1t; but if he
attempts to handle the invention him.
Isself, the chances of success are not
one in a thousand. 40
For financial profit, combination of
invention and business promotion is
necessary. 1t is the usual, more than
| the unusual thing, for the inventor to
| be paid small sum, and then be froz
| en-. out altogether. aftf
No one can learn to be an inventor.
NO amount of study and experiment
Will produce inventive quality.
| The inventor is born an inventor
Educatfon and training develop his
inventive capacity
| The ingenious boy is not necessarily
an inventor, but the inventor is al
ways ingenious. ,bs3f 10
The COPPER, no matter how skillful Is
not likely to discover or invent anythine
Inc trained mechanic is not necessarily
an inventor rec a
The inventor is aecreator, an originator
He does not depend entirely upon what
others know. He takes what others know
ao1sr to ond what he knows or can dis
body else has before him.
The embryo inventor will unmistaka-
ply ply . SHOW inventive talent Frequently
common school. This quality naturally tIiv
more manifest. as
showing his talent. AS boy, he is gen
orally studlous, a very good scholar In n
rev branches, If not in all the studies; a
Enlnk 1eI reader and an investigator.
their work. He Is all the time doing some
thing little different from what IS being
done by his associates: This boy needs
broad education, preferably in the sci
enc S A regular classical college course
VIII assist and technical or scientific
course will be Of inestimable value To
him: He had better not start in as
some mechanical or scientific cal calling np
along the line of his desire. and use this
calling for livelihood, inventing as he
works. While in active labor, he is
much more likely to invent the prac.
tical, and succeed than if he gives him
! self up wholly to experiment and in
vention.
Comparatively few so-called profession
al inventors make a good living. and only
a small number of inventors invent any
| thing worth while.
| Our best inventors have some profess
sion. trade or other calling and invent
as the they , work An 4 Invention to them is
something sufficiently valuable for them to
| devote the balance of their years to exo
| pertinent, discovery and invention.
i