Discussion on “the art of inventing,” at Milwaukee, Wis., May 30, 1906

C. P. Steinmetz: I do not quite agree with the author of this paper, or rather, I do not believe that there is such a thing as an art of inventing. I consider inventing as a part of the regular work of the engineer. The engineer has before him a problem to solve, whether it be a problem of design, installation, or operation. He has at his disposition a vast amount of experience, his own and others, and if he is successful he solves the problem in a number of successive steps. Some of these steps are old, and have been taken by others under similar conditions. One, or several, may be new, have never been taken by anybody before; that is, are invention, and as such are covered by patent. These new steps may not necessarily be the most important, the most difficult or ingenious ones, but they are new and as such are invention. But without being put in the position where the problem calls for just such a step, without having at his disposition the vast amount of preceding experience, the engineer would never have made that invention — perhaps he may have invented something else.