Sound of thunderous applaud fills the air. The greatest show on earth is underway. The showman on stage basks in the glory of tumultuous applause while the real star remains unseen somewhere in the shadowy backstage. Likewise we are so fascinated by the brilliance of the technological wonders before our eyes that we seldom spare a moment to think about the visionary behind it all. Let us now board on a journey of discovery-a discovery of the creativity and innovation that surrounds us and that which is inside.
Creativity is best defined as piece of work that is both original and useful. It involves the use of skill and the imagination of an individual to produce something new. Similarly innovation is typically understood as the successful introduction of something new and useful, for example introducing new methods, techniques, practices, new or altered products and services. But both of these are two different things.
Looking into a few cases, one can understand how creative and innovative ideas of an individual changed the thinking of the mass. How a minor thinking made a major effect.
Let us just consider Sir Isaac Newton. According to his own story (and in contradiction to the story of being hit on the head by a falling apple), Newton conceived the concept of universal gravitation when he observed an apple falling and at the same time noticed the moon in the sky. These simultaneous images inspired him to speculate if the same laws governed the falling apple and the moon orbiting the earth. This in turn led him to develop the laws of mechanics and established mathematical analysis and modeling as the principal foundations of science and engineering. Seemingly independent visual or mental images that are considered concurrently may inspire unique ideas.
The relationship between electricity and magnetism was first observed in 1820 by Oersted in a public lecture at which he was demonstrating the "well known fact" that electricity and magnetism were completely independent phenomena. This time the experiment failed! - An electric current produced a magnetic effect. Oersted was observant enough to notice this effect, honest enough to admit it, and diligent enough to follow up and publish it. Maxwell used these experiments to extend Newton's methods of modeling and mathematical analysis in the mechanical and visible world to the invisible world of electricity and magnetism and derived Maxwell's Laws. Once again a minute observation made by Oersted opened the doors to our modern age of electricity and electronics.
There are many cases where a simple question by a child gave the mankind a new gift. Edward Land was taking pictures of his family while on a vacation trip in the southwest. His young daughter asked "Why do we have to wait to see the pictures?" and Land thought to himself "good question!” Sketched out some ideas and tried them after he returned to his lab in Boston. The Polaroid Camera and the science of instant photography appeared soon thereafter.
Sometimes it is seen that in pursuit of one goal we end up finding something entirely different. Just see the case of invention of transistor. William Shockley described the process of inventing the transistor at Bell Labs as "creative failure methodology". A multi-discipline Bell Labs team was formed to invent the MOS transistor and ended up instead with the junction transistor and the new science of semiconductor physics. These developments eventually led to the MOS transistor and then to the integrated circuit and to new breakthroughs in electronics and computers.
The point which I want to make here from these snippets is that the creativity and innovation of few people can change the existing mindset of the mass and always give the world something new and different which in turn can make this world a better place. And so through these lines I request you people to think in the same way, the way they thought to make the difference, but in a different manner. Never try to stop your imagination. Always try to be creative and innovative. Who knows some day, some way you will belong to the same lot and someone, somewhere would be referring you and your work to the mass, the way I am doing.
This editorial was written by me for "TechNEXT: Annual technical magazine of Asansol Engineering College" in March 08 edition.
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