h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

How can somebody invent something that was used by the Romans and the Egyptians? Excuse me while I invent the plough...

Well, the Rolex Committee obviously thought it was novel enough.

So what? Let's see him try to patent it. It's a well known phenomenon that has been written about for thousands of years. Rolex prize or not, it is NOT a new invention...

Well, this entry has been through PR and got the thumbs up. The time and place to make this kind of comment was there and then, not here and now.

Regardless, my comments are both relevant and pertinant. Not everyone can keep an eye on the goings on in PR. If you publish an entry to the guide you have to expect some comment on it.

Quite. It just seems a bit late in the day, that's all.

I have had one of these for years for keeping a wine bottle cold. The only difference is that the bottle becomes the inner pot, and the water is ok without sand.

Clearly the inventor has brought some of his pottery training to bear on this (according to the article). Did Biro invent the pen? No, he invented a type of pen - does that make him any less an inventor? Maybe we need a bit more about the inventiveness of the person concerned to convince us that the idea has a new slant.

I still think that putting an ideal like this into general use is a huge achievement, while we suck up more and more energy here to keep our food cold.

Well, all I can say is that if he was innovative enough to win a Rolex award, he probably qualifies as an inventor.

Wow, if the Rolex people say so, then I'll just switch off my own brain and let them do my thinking for me. Excuse me while I invent fire.

Well, you should find winning the award a piece of piss, then.

Maolmuire, Do you accept the Biro point? Can someone be credited for an improvement in something? Are they being inventive? I'm not asking you to turn your brain off. If you invented a fire that burned hydrogen which came from water then you too could take the Rolex prize in my opinion. And I wouldn't say we already have fire.

A great entry in either case. I thing the footnote mentioning 'various contexts' covers the Roman Empire adequetly. Well done!

- don

Given that, according to Maolmuire, the invention is so trivial and has a long historical precedent, then why didn't *he* recognise its potential and exploit it? *That* is why Abba got the award: he had the wherewithal and determination to do something with a good idea, regardless of its provenance.

Whoa! Hold up there just a second. I never said it was trivial. It does have a long historical precedent and cannot therefore be accounted an invention. The ancients used specially designed porous pottery to acheive the cooling effect. Therefore it is NOT an invention.
As for Biro, he didn't invent the pen, but he DID invent the rollerball pen, something which was new. Therefore it IS an invention.
I really don't understand why people have a problem with this. The guy saw a problem, and worked out an elegant solution to it. Fair play to him, and so what if it isn't a new invention? Big deal, it works and people's lives will be better because of it. Isn't that the important bit? It's wonderful and marvelous etc. etc. It just isn't a new invention, because it was already invented.

Now you really must excuse me, there's this 'writing' thing I've been tinkering with lately...

It could have been a 'psychologically' as opposed to 'culturally' creative idea. Poeple get the former all the time: an idea pops into their head out of nowhere. God knows I've had a few in my time. The latter, however occur only once in a culture.

I wonder how many times the wheel has been invented???

I wonder how many times the flat tyre has been invented!

Isn't the difference in this invention - really not wanting to flog a dead horse here! Honestly! - is the double skinned pot. Just as Biro found a new way of putting ink on paper this chappie invented a new way of using the porous pot idea and the sand in the sandwich clearly serves a clever purpose.

Quite: his innovation is to separate the coolant and the stuff being cooled.