Why Ideas are Killed

I was reminded during a recent meeting of this sign that my father, Wade Dickinson, had on his desk for decades. The quote is from one of his role models: Charles Kettering – American inventor, engineer, businessman, and the holder of 186 patents:

Why Ideas are Killed
Man is so constituted as to see what is wrong with a new thing – not what is right.  To verify this, you have but to submit a new idea to a committee.  They will obliterate ninety per cent of rightness for the sake of ten per cent of wrongness.  The possibilities a new idea opens up are not visualized because not one man in a thousand has imagination.

My father was granted over three dozen US patents during his life in a wide variety of fields.  Five more patents have issued since he died in San Francisco at age 85, in 2011. I hope that I can continue to be creative – and to see new things – as long as he did!

Wade Dickinson’s US Patents – Issued Since 2011
8,420,042 Process for the production of carbon graphenes and other nanomaterials
8,377,408 Process for the production of carbon nanoparticles and sequestration of carbon
8,277,145 Engineered, scalable underground storage system and method
8,256,992 Underground sequestration system and method
8,256,991 Engineered, scalable underground storage system and method

Wade Dickinson’s US Patents (1965-2011)
7,914,749 Clathrate hydrate modular storage, applications and utilization processes
6,206,112 Multiple lateral hydraulic drilling apparatus and method
6,142,246 Multiple lateral hydraulic drilling apparatus and method
5,035,285 Gravel packing system for a production radial tube
4,991,667 Hydraulic drilling apparatus and method
4,974,672 Gravel packing system for a production radial tube
4,872,509 Oil well production system using a hollow tube liner
4,865,128 Gravel packing system for a production radial tube
4,852,668 Hydraulic drilling apparatus and method
4,790,394 Hydraulic drilling apparatus and method
4,787,465 Hydraulic drilling apparatus and method
4,763,734 Earth drilling method and apparatus using multiple hydraulic forces
4,750,561 Gravel packing system for a production radial tube
4,715,128 Curvature probe and method
4,693,327 Mechanically actuated whipstock assembly
4,560,934 Method of transporting a payload in a borehole
4,527,639 Hydraulic piston-effect method and apparatus for forming a bore hole
4,524,324 Downhole instrument including a flexible probe which can travel freely around bends in a borehole
4,501,337 Apparatus for forming and using a bore hole
4,497,381 Earth drilling apparatus and method
4,431,069 Method and apparatus for forming and using a bore hole
4,091,807 Intra-vaginal device and method of use
3,938,504 Method for measuring vagina dimensions
3,854,476 INTRA-VAGINAL DEVICE AND METHOD
3,811,443 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION
3,811,424 ARTIFICIAL METHOD FOR MODIFYING THE REPRODUCTIVE CYCLE IN ANIMALS
3,811,423 DEVICE FOR INSERTION INTO THE REPRODUCTIVE TRACT AND METHOD OF USING SAME
3,546,927 ULTRASONIC TESTING APPARATUS
3,460,492 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING SEEDS COATED WITH A MAGNETIC MATERIAL
3,407,650 Ultrasonic apparatus for detecting flaws
3,407,649 Method and apparatus for generating a high power ultrasonic burst pulse signal
3,407,122 Solar still with a cassegranian optical system
3,299,696 Apparatus for generating, directing and receiving ultrasonic wave trains
3,299,695 Ultrasonic testing apparatus
3,299,694 Method and apparatus for detecting flaws using ultrasonic helical waves
3,282,087 Apparatus for generating ultrasonic waves
3,250,120 Method and apparatus for determining flaw locations
3,186,216 Method and apparatus for generating and receiving ultrasonic helical waves
One more from the 1950s… Still looking

Image Copyright 2014 by Katy Dickinson