Innovation is one of the most important factors in the economic development of any society. It is probably the reason why so many past economic forecasts have come short. This is in large part due to the fact that innovation, by its very nature, is unpredictable and hard to anticipate. Innovation is a very demanding process, that requires a lot of ingenuity, imagination, hard work, and of course luck. There are almost as many kinds of inventors as there are innovations, and sometimes it may seem that the process of inventing is haphazard and subject to brilliant insights out of nowhere.

In “The Eureka Method” John Hershey, an experienced and successful inventor, shares some secrets of the invention process. The book aims to give a general overview of all important ingredients that go into a successful invention. It is filled with examples and case studies, but it does not focus on any particular subject or field. Its written with the most general inventor in mind, and most of the insights and suggestions that it offers can indeed be applied to almost any line of work. The book also covers the all important patent legal issues, which every inventor really needs to pay very close attention to.

The chapters in this book include “Improvement Inventions,” “Combination Inventions,” “Law, Regulations, and Standards,” “Overcoming and Using Constraints,” and several others. The writing is well crafted and pedagogical. This book is a very good resource for all inventors and would-be inventors.

***** Review copy provided by the publisher. *****