Technology and creativity

Few things require a finer blend of practical knowledge and creative imagination than the invention of new technologies. Great innovators like Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, and Henry Ford possessed not only extensive mechanical knowledge, but also a profound ability to anticipate and fulfill the technological needs and desires of society. What thought processes underlie this unique union of mechanical process and social insight? Are inventors inspired by a divine muse as artists through the ages have claimed to be or is there a more down-to-earth explanation? In Technology and…