
79Technical Creativity and Idea Generation
thought to run his invention backwards, using a water wheel or a steam
engine, the situation would have been different. He would have invented the
electric dynamo and solved the problem of obtaining reliable electric power.
In the early 1950s, both sides of the Cold War were seeking to develop
guided missiles to defend against enemy aircraft. The most difcult applica-
tion was for lightweight units that could be carried on ghter planes. The
U.S. Air Force was focusing on radar as its targeting system. However, a
small development group at the China Lake Naval Ordnance Test Station felt
that infrared ...