Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 48 — page 66: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION tory equipment, will continue to command the trained scientist and professional inventor. However, there is no need to be overawed by famous names. We cannot all be Edisons and Marconis, but there is still a host of small gadgets and improvements which greater minds are more prone to overlook. The art of invention does not appear on the curricula of any of our universities. It is more likely to be acquired in the home, the office or the workshop by practical-minded men and women, who. see a defect or disadvantage in familiar equipment and begin to think of a means of effecting a remedy. A great many firms have already appreciated the fact that their own employees are the people most likely to dream up small inventions and ideas to help cut costs and speed up production. Suggestions are welcomed by these go-ahead manufacturers, and fair cash incentives are offered all em- ployees whose ideas prove of practical use. How to go about getting 65 these inspirations, you say? One of the simplest ways is to find some small fault which needs remedying. It was a method adopted by the hus- band who was observant enough to notice that the straight-legged hair-pins used by his wife had a tendency to slip from her hair. He made small kinks in each leg of the pin and found that they gripped the hair securely. He put his form of hair-pin on the market and sat back while they earned him a fortune. Should an idea occur to you that at first thought appears to be most impractical, do not discard it without having given it really careful con- sideration. Before now, ex- perts have been known to condemn these impractical ideas out-of-hand, only to discover at a later date that they contained the solution to their problem. As a case in point, remem- _ber that the American, Elias Howe, perfected the lock- stitch sewing machine by having the eye in the point of his needle. This was a solution which had been overlooked by others, probably because it comiclooks.cormn