Human civilization is an accumulation of innovations, inventions, creations, and discoveries (Tan, 2000a). Inventions are regarded as the “keystone” and “life-blood” of the existence of human society (Rossman, 1964). From candles to electric light bulbs, from bicycles to airbuses, from paper clips to copy machines, our life is pervaded with inventions. Despite the unquestionable importance of invention, however, inventors and their social environments remain under-investigated in the field of psychology. A literature search (done in early 2009) in PsycINFO and PsycBOOKS with “inventor” and “empirical study” as key words resulted in only 63 entries. An examination of these pieces of literature revealed that while most of the studies were examining inventing individuals or processes from an industrial or managerial perspective, only very few focused on the psychological profile of the inventors (eg, Colangelo, Assouline, Kerr, Huesman, & Johnson, 1993; Henderson, 2004a, 2004b; Rossman, 1964). So far our understanding of inventors from a psychological point of view remains limited.

There are several reasons why studies about inventors are underrepresented in the field of creativity research. One of the primary reasons lies in a range of myths about invention or inventors that most people hold. Among others, the view of “invention must be BIG” might be the most prevailing. Unarguably, it is great inventions, such as electricity, the steam engine, the airplane, and computers that have brought revolutionary changes to our society. But invention cannot be only viewed in such a narrow way. As a matter of fact, our daily life is full of more small inventions 1, such as postage stamps (invented by Rowland Hill in 1837), paperclips (patented by Johan Vaaler in 1901), coat hangers (patented by O. A. North in 1869), blue jeans (co-patented by Levi Strauss and David Jacobs on May 20,