I'm not sure I agree with anything you've written. Sure, we all start with textbooks, but I'd say 80% of what I know has been learned on the job. Anyone who relys on textbooks as work manuals generally doesn't progress very far. As reference material, though, they are quite useful. As for NASA being in a rut, I'd blame bureacracy and foolish political decisions more than dependence on textbooks. And the space elevator...NASA is not actively working on it given their limited budget. They are however, involved with the Centennial Challenge competitions by giving cash prizes for those who win the challenges. If you've been following the competitions, you'd know that we are still a long way off.

You allude to your own discoveries...what are they?

Hi Silas and Roger

I agree with everything you have said, even 80% on the job learning. This is the key, on the job training. You said it! To be an inventor, and discover new concepts, things which do not exhist, things which man has no clue about, things which man thinks are impossible, or engineering principles, or mechanical principles yet unknown. This is what I am relating to. I am conceptual inventor with over 110 inventions. Holder of US patents and could have international patents. All too expensive to maintain, and not enough time to promote. I would rather be inventing. My first introduction to engineering was when I was 4.5 years old, when I crawled under an old Mercedes which had the oil pan off. I got into my dad's tools, wrenches and hammer and in no time I had pieces all over. Pistons. rods, valves etc. I was absolutely in my realm. I came up with an invention when I was 5.5 years old. The Navy and the Coast Guard would love to have it. By the way, just 3 years ago I presented an invention to DARPA, guess what?? So sorry we have no money. So I approached the Navy; Reply= We have the best, the fastest planes, we are not interested in new technology! I reviewed this invention - inventions with a physicist-"YES, it will work". America missed out! I am now older and wizer! Don't try to sell inventions which are not related to text-book knowledge.

Roger, here is a clue. For every force there is an equal and opposite force! True? Not so. I have found a way to completely get rid of counter torque, so that you don't break your wrist drilling a hole when the drill jams. The armature will stop first and short out the drill, or maybe just blow a fuse.

I am now focusing on Europe and will start with the needs of the world masses rather than the needs of a governmental, political identity. Erich

Well. I don't usually see people of this caliber on forums. I think I speak for many (or possibly just my self) when I say that I am genuinely intrigued.

As a fellow patent holder I would be interested in what patents to products and ideas you have (nothing like getting the old creative juices flowing to help generate new ideas!). What areas are they in?

What did you invent when you were 5.5 (can you give us a hint? )

Don't get to discouraged thou with trying to get new ideas and technologies past the big companies. For example, a number of technologies which were really "way out" have been invented or are being developed right now (Transparent Aluminum (US military), Ion drive (NASA), Optical computers, Transporters, Smart interactive touch panel user interface, etc, etc). These technologies were first mentioned on Star Trek (and based on, among other things, script writers imagination) I believe. It just goes to show you that where there is a will, there is a way (as long as you can prove that it will make them money! If you cannot, it will stay as conceptual).

Perhaps if you tried getting your ideas past smaller companies that would be a little less political and a little more open to change (ie- not the US Military, Automotive manufacturers, NASA).

By the way. If you are trying to get inventions past the auto industry I advise you to give up now and look else where. They are EXTREMELY stubborn to change, and re-tooling a multi-million dollar production process to save a few dollars a car aint going to happen.

Oh. The counter-torque idea for a drill is nice, but wouldn't it be easier just to limit the drill current during a drill bit jam? This way the the drill still works after the fault is cleared and the drill remains undamaged.

Hint: Very useful for the Coast Guard, Navy, and military.

I wish to thank you for your other advice and guidance.

One of my inventions will save the auto industry hundreds of millions, save our natural resources, and will allow them to sell the vehicles at a lower price.

Using this invention for a drill was an after thought. It was originally designed as a spaceship stabilizing unit. If you think about it, brainstorm, you will find hundreds of uses for it.

Here is some more food for thought: If my inventions were in use today, the whole world would be a different place.

You Wrote: "Maybe, someday I will tell you what I discovered? Erich"

Please give me a heads up when you intend to reveal your discovery to to world so I can schedule time in outlook for it. Monday I have a meeting around 1pm and the morning is usually a little hectic. If you could make it Tuesday afternoon or anytime Wednesday, that would be perfect. Also, if you could just let me know what major network to watch, I would appreciate (No doubt all will cover it, but just in case).

Well Erich, you seem to have ruffled a few feathers. I rather feel ruffled too. Taking such a high and mighty stance is very unadvisable. However the point is true that there are other ways to go about getting off this planet. But any change is course cost forward motion and increases inertia. Every change will either be painful and forced by need or go slow and get there by sheer ineviablity. I would like it if you could help with constuctive critisism and sharing your discoveries sooner rather than later.

Please relax, I do not mean to ruffle feathers, I mean to wake up the scientific and engineering community of this USA; the rest of the world is starting to leave us in their dust. They have all the money we do not any more. All we have left is good old Yankee enginuity, and we had better wake up and get in gear now. There is a new way to get out of the earth's gravitational pull which does not have any of the problems that you mention. I am a Canadian and lived in the USA for 27 years, I love your country and your people. Remember JFK "Ask not what the country can do for you, but ask what can you do for your country".

Well yes, Erich there is another way to leave this Earth. We all have an expiration date, which in your case, some people may think you are not approaching fast enough. I too hold numerous patents, mostly gained in Eureka type moments by being in the right place at the right time. But I do not seek applause nor recognition and have no intention of moving to foreign lands for such purpose. Anyway, I would rather be in a "traditional rut" with Sir Isaac and Leonardo than in your rut, with the 500 MPG carburator guys.

Dear Mr. Thermo: Eureka inventors are a dime a dozen. Not significant to man's exhistence or the world. So go hibernate in your traditional rut, and increase the thermo under your collar.

I don't agree about the evils of reliance on textbook knowledge. Much of our knowledge is printed, and when approaching a problem it would be relatively foolish and completely inefficient to ignore the opportunity of using others' successful approaches and avoiding their failures.

Many concepts are very simple, including your elevator. That doesn't make them easy to produce. I, too have ideas that on the surface are simple however practical application is a bit more challenging. I also don't think I'm all that original. The guy who gets the prize is not always the one who thinks of the concept. Often it is the implementor.

I did not mean textbook knowledge in that sense. You have to know the past to understand the future. When I have a maybe invention, I always research what has been achieved in that area and I also do a patent search.

Your second paragraph hits home. I have spent up to 20 years of research of and on some inventions to finally achieve what I was after. Improving someones invention or adding to it in my book is not an invention. Everything has to be original. Your last two sentences are very true. Thank You for reminding me.

As long as knowledge is money, world can't get good and right tool for progress. I see only questions but no answers in this forum. Knowledge-able persons must give answers which may induce young persons to do something. After a long struggle in life one knows a lot of things but he is unable to share.This has to change. Who will bell the cat?

Get used to working 14-16 or more hours per day, save your money, be creative, Think, find a niche and hit it hard. 9 out of ten you will become a millionaire, if that is what you really want. It really is that easy and a little luck helps too. You must have organizational skills; wishful thinking is a waste of time, Do it! The answers are within you.

Being an inventor is a luxury and a privilege, not a job. Investors don't care a bit about your ideas or technology. Why should they? Other engineers are perhaps your worst enemies. If you are right, they are out of business, or they loose face. Envy is the rule of the game of life. Deal with it. Coveting is a big problem, and is central to all wars and conflict. If you want to tear down someone's cash flow, you will find massive resistance to your ideas.

People will support you if they know they can have a cash flow and make money. DARPA and the Government are full of people who are on middle class welfare. They are in government because they cannot make it on the outside. They are fear based. Their careers are destroyed if they take a risk and it (your idea) does not work. Passion is not part of the "culture" and peace (sleeping at their desks) is the rule of the game. Corporations are the same as Government; just they rely on size (monopoly) to cover their incompetence.

If you want to invent, you need to develop a "passive" income to sustain yourself and your projects until you can get your machine working and to a point where it can make money. Inventing is a luxury that only government (tax payers pay the bills) or large corporations (monopoly profits allow the bills) can afford. I have invented for over ten years. How? Passive income. You MUST be independent. Doing it on an engineer's wage part-time is very hard to impossible. You don't want the government to be your "partner" in any case. If your boss finds out you invent he might fire you. You can only serve one master at a time. Focuse is key.

Patents are next to meaningless unless you have the money to defend it. I have 5. Who cares? Nobody. It only matters if you can make money and the idea is the most cost effective way to do something. I spent 10K on one, just to later find a better idea. Get the product done, and then patent it, if it makes strategic sense. Also, a patent is a right to sue and go bankrupt on lawyer fees. I read patents for fun. I learn something from each. Most have critical flaws that the inventors overlooked, or they offer no value. Your job is to create value.

I can become an expert on any subject within a year or two, or can find the needed experts to put the puzzle together. Books are just a start. You will not find new ideas in books.

Any industry can be creatively destroyed. How? Ask quality questions, and keep digging. "The quality of the solution is a function of the quality of the question." Memorize it, and repeat it until it sinks in. I would bet $100,000 that I could find fundamental flaws in your inventions or inventing within a week by simply asking quality questions.

The market does not want half-baked ideas. They don't want to think. They cannot understand what you are doing, and can care less. Nobody wants to save the planet. They want to save their butt and make money. Save the planet is a smoke screen for their business con game, whether it is the global warming hoax, health care "crisis" or whatever. Follow the money...

You are a good man, up front, honest, say it as it is. I have been seriously inventing since 1963. I had a lot, lot of money at one time. Gave most of it away to my x-wife because she wanted it. I have gone through patent searches just for fun too. I am amazed a patent was issued for some of them. Others you could reapply and get your own patent just by correcting their blunders. Inventors seem to have a one track mind, money, get rich, they don't do their homework. I am my own boss. Thank You for your input; I agree with you and have also experienced the same. Erich

As long as we are waxing philosophic...

You might want to consider who you are and who you want to be. As was previously mentioned, we all have an expiry date. If you follow seaplaneguy's path, you may end up rich, yet many have said there are better ways to end up. (If I were rich and unhappy, I'd let you know from experience, but right now I am poor and neutral.)

Some of those we consider 'great' have not gone for gold. DaVinci's helicopter concept inspired implementors and is the precursor to helicopters today. What if he had hidden his idea away or burned it? Would no-one else have come up with the concept or would it appear about the same time anyhow? There are people who ascribe to both sides of that path.

On the wealth side, there are many people who's ideas have brought them wealth - Bell, Edison and Ford for example. But they had certain other qualities that were essential to their success. Some business acumen, certainly; tenacity, absolutely; confidence and optimism, apparently. While I am sure they complained about things from time to time it is not their legacy.

You (Erich) seem to like Kennedy, so try out "We must accept the world as it is not how we wish it to be." That does not suggest passive acceptance of things and don't try to improve them. It says what is, is. Don't live in a fantasy world (Bush would do well to get a grip on this concept, but that's not an engineering problem) nor a world of denial nor a world of whining. Take things as they are and move forward.

Your protective secrecy, by the way, hardly follows the 'what you can do for your country' piece of advice you quoted.

Thank You for your response: I am 67 years young, and I almost had an expiry date this last Sunday morning. Had my cardiac thing on the operating table just barely in time. So the previous man who mentioned expiration date was almost right. I think this is the reason why I am now on this website communicating. I now feel fine, just a little tired and need a break from my inventions, but up at 6:30 am every morning and to bed at 11:00pm. I have a lot to do and if I put in I4 or more hours per day can still life 2 lifetimes. I think I know who I am, and I am what I am. Thank You. I was very rich once, not extremely; so I was rich and unhappy. Gave it all away.

I have not gone for gold, it just follows me around. I have been called the second DaVinci by many of my friends and by hundreds of University students which I taught, who jammed into my office, and stood in the hallway to listen to me. This was every Friday afternoon from 1-4 for many years.

I am a firm believer of a life of service to help mankind. There is no greater reward. I accept the world as it is today, I will change it, make it better, and I have had success in many ways already. I am now concentrating, on getting the inventions on the market, so that I can better to help mankind. Secrecy is part of it right now, but if you ever hear of an Erich it will probably be me. Rome was not built in a day.

Erich

I cannot tell you how truly impressed I am by your humility. Gosh Golly!

Me too!

I have perfected the Schmoo. I will patent it as soon as Al Capp's copyright expires.

To Kenfry as well: There really is humor in what you said. "He who laughs last, laughs the best".

Erich, you have thus far propped yourself up as some kind of super genius who wants to sell his mind for nothing to the "world masses." If this is true why not simply publish your world-altering invention? I'm sure any science magazine or journal would be chomping at the bit to do so.

You claim to have 110 inventions under your belt and US patents. Well, the best way to share knowledge with the world while protecting it from theft is through patenting. If you are such a champion of the people it should cost you nothing to protect your patents since all you want is to give them away to those who need them.

Maybe you could give us a few patent numbers so we can see your genius firsthand? I know personally that I love to revel in the genius of those before me and I'm sure many engineers share in this love. If lifts us up and pushes us to accomplish what they have. We would like nothing better than to see this drill bit invention you claim to have.

Or is the reality that you are only seeking attention, leading us all on with vague clues and promises of genius?

As far as that JFK quote, that quote touts the most disgusting reversal of the role of government I can imagine. If you want to see the outcome of a people who serve their governement you needn't look farther than the USSR. If you want to look at a government that serves its people look at the USA and its founding principles.

Over and over again you give me the wrong advice and are trying to pry information. In due time, wait just a little longer and I promise you, you will not be disapointed. My invention is a new mechanical principle; it makes use of all the rest and combines them into one. I was working on an other invention, and thought this would do it, however I realized the other characteristics and even had one built by a machine shop. I works great! I patented it. There was nothing even vaguely like it, and I got my patent in 6 months. Also checked international and it also was avaiable. I did not have a major corporation to protect my interests so stopped right there. I have to consult the major corporation which will back me. There are at least 20 new inventions from that alone.

The USA founding fathers and the the USA founding principles were GREAT. Even much better than that. How about today? Is the government still serving the people? I only want to make 1 point and just leave it at that. In BC, Canada where I am right now, the government is in charge of health insurance. If you are earning less than 24,000 per year, your health premium is paid by the government. This coverage includes hospital, doctor, with subsidized medicine [pills etc], where you only pay the first 300.00 in a year and then the government pays the rest. This government knows how to look after the elderly and the poor. I you are earning all the money in the world, you only have to pay 78.00 per month for free hospital and doctor. This all on a variable scale depending on income, you could pay 78 or less or nothing. Does the USA do this for their people? Do the insurance companies glut on windfall profits?

Erich

Yeah who foots the bill for that free health care?
Also, I hear there is a little bit of a doctor shortage up there

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20040615/statscan_doctors_040615?s_name=&no_ads=

And by the way, hell yes insurance companies "glut on windfall profits." They provide a service for people in return for payment. If you don't like your insurance company you can pick another one. Can you do the same in Canada?

Only the upper middle class and the rich can afford insurance in the Us. No one is ever turned down in BC. You can buy extra insurance if you have no other use for your money. You can be sick every day of your life, and noone will increase your insurance rate. They have excellent doctors and their facilities are up to date. People up here are encouraged to do peventive medecine to keep them healthy. The government even hands out a book a one inch thick book called BC Health Guide Helping you and your family stay healthy. No charge. They encourage you to be healthy. You can get lazer sugery on your eyes and even synthetic cornea transplants at no charge for doctor or hospital. You however have turned your back on the poor, young and old, the homeless, the lame and the cripples, and the people you obviously don't give a damn about. Shame on you.

Perhaps someone could come up with a "Stay-on-Topicizer" as we wander from text-books, the difficulty of implementing some extraordinary ideas into the wonders of insurance, health care and nationalism.

I know it can be done manually with a New Yorker of Italian descent who watches your posts and raps you on the back of the head when inappropriate. <Ouch!>

Thank You, jdst. We have met before. Little did I realize, what was in store for me when I started this discussion! Reality therapy, a rude awakening, even attempted ridicule. I only wanted them to know that if one indvidual like me can have so many inventions, that they too can create, and we do have millions of professional individuals with countless ideas, thoughts, questions; individuals who really have the sincerity and are willing to create and invent if only there was encouragement and a reason to.

We have to create for our very exhistence, our culture, our families, our America. Not for the government, [they come and go], but for us the people. Many other countries in the world by far are outspending us in research and development. Our government spent our money. Now, it is time for indviduals to get in gear and take an active part. Every little piece is part of the puzzle. We need individuals from every technology and every walk of life. How are we going to do this?

Let us all get together and brainstorm for the common good.

If we do nothing, we will end up with nothing.