How to develop a bright idea and how to decide if an invention is worthy of development? That is the theme of this entertaining book, which presents its message in a way that can be readily understood by anyone from a student to a senior consultant. The book is academically respectable without being obscure. The inventor is taught to be inventive and a scheme of scoring is suggested for assessing the viability of a new idea. The author illustrates his points with vivid and sometimes hilarious examples. He presents a pattern of thinking that can be applied to almost every area of engineering innovation. The book is based on the author's experiences as a successful consulting engineer; he has been variously an inventor, designer, company director, production manager, adviser to merchant bankers, he has headed research organisations, has lectured on the subject at the University of Cambridge, and is a chartered engineer.