Editing Invention (section)

=== Practical means ===
[[File:Alessandro Volta.jpeg|thumb|200px|[[Alessandro Volta]] with the first [[electrical battery]]. Volta is recognized as an influential inventor.]]

Ideas for an invention may be developed on paper or on a computer, by writing or drawing, by [[trial and error]], by making models, by [[experiment]]ing, by testing and/or by making the invention in its whole form. [[Brainstorming]] also can spark new ideas for an invention. Collaborative creative processes are frequently used by engineers, designers, architects and scientists. Co-inventors are frequently named on patents.

In addition, many inventors keep [[inventor's notebook|records]] of their working process – [[inventor's notebook|notebooks]], photos, etc., including [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Galileo Galilei]], [[Evangelista Torricelli]], [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[Albert Einstein]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Grissom, Fred. |title=Inventor's Notebook, The. |date=2005 |publisher=Nolo |isbn=9781406318289 |oclc=1007922528}}</ref><ref>''Leonardo da Vinci: Artist, Scientist, Inventor'' by Simona Cremante (2005)</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jefferson's Papers at the Library of Congress |url=http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/jefferson_papers/ |publisher=Memory.loc.gov |access-date=2013-07-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=about Albert Einstein |url=http://www.alberteinstein.info/about/Information |access-date=Jun 1, 2020}}</ref>

In the process of developing an invention, the initial idea may change. The invention may become simpler, more practical, it may expand, or it may even ''morph'' into something totally different. Working on one invention can lead to others too.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Continuation Patents at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offices |url=http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/0200_201_08.htm |publisher=Uspto.gov |access-date=2013-07-17}}</ref>

History shows that turning the concept of an invention into a working device is not always swift or direct. Inventions may also become more useful after time passes and other changes occur. For example, the [[parachute]] became more useful once powered [[flight]] was a reality.<ref>White, Lynn: The Invention of the Parachute, ''Technology and Culture'', Vol. 9, Nremante (2005)</ref>