The first article is by Fareed Zakaria, who asks Is America Losing Its Mojo?  Zakaria points to three tidals waves of innovation that made America the world leaders in innovation. 

The first was a wave of deconstruction in Europe in the aftermath of World War II – while Europe spent most of its resources rebuilding to get back to where they were before, America had the opportunity to push ahead with little competition.

The second wave, which was related to the first, was the influx of immigrants that fled Europe and took up residence in America’s universities and research centers.

The third wave came as a result of massive government funding, which led to and created markets for innovations such as the microprocessor, global positioning satellites, and the development of the Internet.

I see Zakaria’s point, but I’m not sure if America’s lead in the innovation space is really dead.  The the creation of the personal computer and the drive to use the Internet (and the software industries that came as a result) were American innovations, were distinct from these three waves, and changed the planet.

But what I did find interesting from this article was the list of great scientists that helped position America as the world’s innovation leader.  Here’s who was listed:

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) – Lightbulbs, phonograph
Henry Ford (1863-1947) – Assembly line
George Washington Carver (c. 1864-1943) – Crop rotation
Orville (1871-1948) and Wilbur (1867-1912) Wright – Airplane
Willis Carver (1876-1950) – Air conditioning
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) – Theory of relativity
Charles Richard Drew (1940-50) – Blood bank
J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904-67) – Atomic bomb
Jonas Salk (1914-95) – Polio vaccine
Marion Donovan (1917-98) – Disposable diapers
Stephanie Kwolek (1923-  ) – Kevlar
James Watson (1928-  ) – Structure of DNA
Arthur Fry (1931-  ) – Post-its
Sergey Brin (1973-  ) and Larry Page (1973-  ) – Google
Ed Moses (1949-  ) – Nuclear fusion (which is the subject of the next article…)

The second article is by Daniel Lyons (aka Fake Steve Jobs – who hates Jobs, and I posted about his article on the iPhone here…) is on the quest for nuclear fusion power. 

Nuclear fusion is the holy grail of energy, where a small pellet of deuterium and tritium (which are isotopes of hydrogen) hit with big lasers harnesses the energy-making power of the Sun.  The byproduct, as opposed to the radioactive waste of nuclear fission reactors or the greenhouse gases associated with burning fossil fuels, would merely be helium.

From the article, “Fusion proponents claim that 10 gallons of water could produce as much energy as a supertanker of oil.“

However, as the transition takes place, there will be a number of people on our staff who will feel overwhelmed, partly because some struggle with having the right perspective.

We have a part of our company that strives to gain a deeper understanding.  They know things really, really, really well (admittedly, these are some of the smartest people I’ve ever had the honor to work with…).  However, they have a hard time describing what they know to others or even how to turn what they know into something that might be useful.

We have another part of our company that strives to develop new capabilities.  They focus on the people who are interested in what they are working on, and they turn their knowledge into beneficial products that can be easily understood and useful.

Of course, it’s always incredibly important to strive to know more or to create new innovations that do things that have never been done before.

But, for our efforts to have true impact, they need to be geared towards benefiting others.  While significant energy can be exerted on gaining new knowledge or demonstrating a new capability or invention, an equal amount of energy is needed to present these new insights into benefits for other people.  Otherwise, our initial efforts in gaining the new knowledge might ultimately be lost.

One such example is the comparison between the contributions of British chemist Sir Humphry Davy and those of American inventor Thomas Edison.

By connecting two charcoal sticks to powerful battery technology he invented, Davy demonstrated the capability of using electricity to generate light.  Davy had developed many other lamps, including candle-based safety lamps used by miners, but the demonstration of his powerful arc lamp to the Royal Society in 1809 was the first of its kind – a brand new innovation.

Thomas Edison, on the other hand, strove to make the light bulb practical, thus benefiting others.  Seventy years later after Davy’s demonstration, Edison took advantage of the rush to create practical light bulbs using a method called “incandescence”, which refers to light being emitted from a hot metal object due to its temperature.

As a result of thousands of attempts on Edison’s part, he created an incandescent light bulb that lasted for 40 hours and then later improved the design to last for over 1200 hours.

Now, by the electrical light bulbs that illuminate nearly every home and office in the world, we remember Edison.  In fact, many people think that Edison actually invented the electric light bulb itself, leaving Davy’s contributions, while significant, deep in our collective memories.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard in my occupation that people want to be recognized for their great ideas.  They sometimes ask how we’re going to recognize the scientist that comes up with the next $100 million idea for our company.  However, (even I sometimes fall into this trap myself…), what I tell my colleagues is that it doesn’t matter how great your idea is, it matters what you do with it.

And what you do with it needs to benefit others.  Other people need to understand why your innovative concept or capability will make their lives better.

Your work may explain something that others have never understood before.  So, not only should your work provide that answer, it needs to explain that answer in such a way that it’s clear to others.

One way to think about your efforts is to think of what you are providing, and ask:  What am I producing or what “product” am I creating that others will find useful?

If your goal is to gain understanding, you need to communicate that understanding to others.  The “product” is the understanding AND the communication of that understanding. 

If your goal is to provide a new capability, your need to present it in a way that is useful to others.  The “product” is the new capability AND communicating the way that others can use the new capability to benefit their lives.

In the end, when you benefit others, others will return the favor and recognize you for your contributions.  That’s how to make a lasting impact within the science and technology fields.

In March of this year, the European Commission voted to effectively phase out the incandescent light bulb by 2012.  This follows steps taken by the United States just over a year prior to ban them outright by 2014.

As our society grows, we invent new ways to light our homes and offices that use much less energy.  As it turns out, incandescent light bulbs, an invention dating back to the 1800s, take up to twice as much energy to use as more efficient halogen bulbs and up to three times more energy than compact fluorescent lamps or CFLs.

Of course, we’re not really throwing Thomas Edison aside, just his particular invention.  And further, we’re certainly not diminishing Edison’s contributions – there are important lasting lessons we can learn.

Thomas Edison was a prolific inventor, having 1,093 U.S. patents to his name.  Many of his patents described improvements to the main technologies of his day, including the telegraph, and burgeoning ones, such as electric motors and electric railways.

In addition, Edison created significant innovations such as the phonograph (the first device to record and reproduce sound), the kinetograph (an early form of the motion picture camera), the first commercially available fluoroscope (an X-ray imaging device), and systems for the distribution of electric power.

Of course, Edison’s most famous invention is his seminal improvement on the electric light bulb.

While others scientists invented the electric light bulb itself, Edison worked to make the light bulb practical.  According to the most prominent of Edison’s patent applications for his electric light bulb, the key was using “a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected to platina contact wires”.  With this filament, an electric current passing through it would give off light, and the oxygenless environment inside the bulb would prevent the filament from burning, thereby making the bulb last longer.

Edison’s first successful test of his invention lasted 40 hours, and he soon improved his design to last for over 1200 hours.  In comparison, bulbs designed by others could last only 12 hours or so – a 100x improvement.

However, we shouldn’t credit some stroke of genius for enabling Edison’s light bulb to be invented.  While Edison’s carbon filament was the key to his invention, Edison’s persistence was the key to his success.

It is said that Edison tried thousands of different kinds of filaments before coming up with his final design. He tried and failed, and tried and failed, and tried and failed. And while a single filament design may have failed, he never considered himself a failure; he just learned another new way not to make a light bulb.

Obviously, Edison created his inventions over 100 years ago, so we’ve certainly progressed since Edison’s time, replacing his inventions with the new innovations of today. 

The phonograph has been replaced with the iPod.  The fluoroscope has been replaced by magnetic resonance imagers or MRIs.  The kinetograph has now evolved into the handheld digital camcorder.  So, we shouldn’t be surprised that Edison’s incandescent light bulb has finally been replaced with better technologies.

However, Edison’s influence has been unquestionably dramatic, and the lessons of his success are enduring.  Had Edison not persisted in his quest to build a better light bulb, the practicality of illuminating every corner of our world with electric light could not have been realized.

When we turn on a light switch, the lights go on.  While this seems so simple to us today, we can thank Thomas Edison and his persistence for making it real.