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Steve Roach 7. Signal Conditioning in Oscilloscopes and the Spirit of Invention The Spirit of Invention When I was a child my grandfather routinely asked me if I was going to be an engineer when I grew up. Since some of my great-uncles worked on the railroads, I sincerely thought he wanted me to follow in their foot- steps. My grandfather died before I clarified exactly what kind of engi- neer he hoped I would become, but I think he would approve of my interpretation. I still wasn't sure what an engineer was when I discovered I wanted to be an inventor. I truly pictured myself alone in my basement toiling on the important but neglected problems of humanity. Seeking help, I joined the Rocky Mountain Inventors' Congress. They held a conference on invention where I met men carrying whole suitcases filled with clever little mechanical devices. Many of these guys were disgruntled and cranky because the world didn't appreciate their contributions. One of the speakers, a very successful independent inventor, told of a bankrupt widow whose husband had worked twenty years in isolation and secrecy inventing a mechanical tomato peeler. The tomato peeler had consumed the family savings, and the widow had asked the speaker to salvage the device. With sadness the speaker related the necessity of informing her that tomatoes were peeled in industrial quantities with sulfuric acid. Apparently the inventor had been too narrowly focused to realize that in some cases molecules are more powerful than machines. I didn't want to become disgruntled, cranky, or isolated and I didn't even own a basement. So I went to engineering school and adopted a much easier approach to inventing. I now design products for companies with such basic comforts as R&D budgets, support staff, and manufactur- ing operations. Along the way I have discovered many ways of nurturing inventiveness. Here are some techniques that seem to work: Give yourself time to invent. If necessary, steal this time from the un- ending rote tasks that your employer so readily recognizes and rewards. I try to work on things that have nothing to do with a particular product, have no schedule, and have no one expecting results. I spend time on highly tangential ideas that have little hope for success. I can fail again and again in this daydream domain with no sense of loss. 65 Signal Conditioning in Oscilloscopes and the Spirit of Invention Get excited. Enjoy the thrilling early hours of a new idea. Stay up all night, lose sleep, and neglect your responsibilities. Freely explore tan- gents to your new idea. Digress fearlessly and entertain the absurd. Invent in the morning or whenever you are most energetic. Save your "real" work for when you are tired.