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The Greatest Inventor

By Peter Lloyd

Among the critical drivers of economic prosperity, perhaps nothing drives harder than the inventions and innovations that also improve our lives. Nobody knew this better or believed it more passionately than Jerry Lemelson.

One of the few people to actually make a living as an independent inventor, Lemelson racked up more than 600 patents. Second only to the independent inventor everyone knows—Thomas Edison.

Lemelson’s patent output averages out to approximately a patent a month for forty years. And according to the website of his Lemelson Foundation, “without support from established research institutions or corporate research and development departments.”

At left is his drawing of Pat. no. 5,570,992, Free-traveling manipulator with optical feedback control and methods.

In addition to many inventions for industry, Jerry also invented brakes for in-line skates, masks printed on the backs of cereal boxes, and a small camcorder, which he was told would be impossible to make.

Here’s a summary from the Lemelson site:

Automated manufacturing systems and bar code readers, automatic teller machines and cordless phones, cassette players and camcorders, fax machines and personal computers—even crying baby dolls derived from Lemelson’s innovations. A universal robot that could measure, weld, rivet, transport and even inspect for quality control utilized a new technology: machine vision.

Before he died in 1997, Jerry Lemelson built the philanthropic foundation that bears his name. The Lemelson Foundation promotes invention, but more specifically, it champions the independent inventor. This may have something to do with the fact that, before his inventing proved lucrative, Jerry worked out of his attic, supported by wife, Dorothy, an interior designer.

His persistence, long hours of experimentation, fearless ventures into fields in which he had no expertise, could be listed and used as a how-to manual of inventive genius. He woke up almost hourly throughout the night, according to one colleague, to jot down ideas that occurred to him. He took notes all the time, including on the beach on family vacations.

If you’re ever asked, “Who was the greatest inventor?” think twice before answering, “Thomas Edison.” After all, what did Tom ever do to help other inventors?

Peter Lloyd is co-creator with Stephen Grossman of Animal Crackers, the breakthrough problem-solving tool designed to crack your toughest problems.

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