And Suddenly the Inventor Appeared: TRIZ, the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving

by Genrich Altshuller, Lev Shulyak (Translator)

This legendary book was first translated and published in English in 1990. The translator, Lev Shulyak an accomplished inventor, engineer and TRIZ expert published the book at his own expense to bring it into American classrooms. This new edition has been revised extensively by Shulyak and editor Steve Rodman, who have added valuable information not found in the original.

Topics include an introduction to the development of the TRIZ theory, and a wide range of problems and the solutions that TRIZ helps produce.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Business, Education, Self Help, Psychology, Engineering

171 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Genrikh Saulovich Altshuller (Ге́нрих Сау́лович Альтшу́ллер), (born Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, USSR, 15 October 1926; died Petrozavodsk, Russia, 24 September 1998), was a Soviet engineer, inventor, scientist, journalist and writer. He is most notable for the creation of the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving, better known by its Russia acronym TRIZ. He founded the Azerbaijan Public Institute for Inventive Creation, and was the first President of the TRIZ Association. He also wrote science fiction under the pen-name Genrich Altov .

Reviews

[Arthur Kosten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genrich Altshuller created a theory (TRIZ) and algorithm (ARIZ) for Inventive Problem Solving in the late 1940s. His theory is built on a very systematic analysis of 100,000 patents, from which he generalized patterns which became the methods to create inventions.

He wrote this book about it in the 1980s and it was translated to in English in 1994. The book describes many engineering problems, where scientists get stuck, until "Suddenly the Inventor Appeared" and then either asks the reader to come up with a solution or describes one of his many methods to solve the problem. The book reads like a popular science textbook of the 70s or 80s, full of optimism of all the great products that would yet be invented by great engineers around the world. A future only bound by the imagination of inventors and engineers. And a future of steel and physical products, it's still long before the world from digital innovations.

The interesting perspective is that Altshuller is extremely systematic. He doesn't believe at all in brainstorming sessions or trial and error. Both approaches will take long and don't guarantee a suitable outcome. Instead he offers his systemic approach.

Fun reading. Nice drawing. References to some great Soviet inventors and inventions.

[Balázs · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book did not meet my expectations. Maybe my expectations were too high.

[Kursad Albayraktaroglu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have wanted to read this book for a long time - as a high school student, I read an article about the TRIZ method of problem solving and have always wanted to learn more about it. This book by the creator of TRIZ is very interesting and provides a good basic background on TRIZ principles, but could probably benefit from better translation and clearer explanation of some of the problems/solutions covered in the book. It looks like the TRIZ method is perhaps more applicable for problems in the mechanical engineering domain, but the methodology could be interesting to any engineer or technically oriented professional who needs to devise creative solutions to design problems.

[David Carpinteiro · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found it as a interesting book about the triz method. It has a good explanation on the topic and starts quite well describing the idea, method by method, but at certain point found the book a bit confusing, especially when it tried to bring to practice the explained methods by giving problems. There is no solutions near each, only in the end, but it wasnt very clear which method was used and why for most of the problems, making this book a bit difficult for beginners like me in the subject.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh.
Some cool ideas. (Ok some would be really cool if they work)
Mostly a checklist of concepts you might have skipped while doing a brainstorming phase (not really a thing in Triz)
Got some guidelines of where the device/invention might end up later and that you might consider skipping past the simpler solution because you’re probably going to need the more complex one eventually anyway.
It seems Wiki has a lot more on this than was in the book.

[Damiano Martorelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

The TRIZ methodology explained with simple concepts.

A "must have" book for every engineer...

[Teo Asinari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun problems, somewhat loopy theory, inspiring message.

[Arun Babji · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book. Takes the essence from truly path breaking patents to summarise typical conflicts, problem categories, and inventive solutions. Many ideas from Lean, and Creative Thinking may have been inspired or have a connection to contents of this book. To think that Genrich was imprisoned in a Gulag during the Soviet era days for his inquisitiveness tells us about the extent to which Governments go to preserve secrets.
The book has a breezy, non-pretentious style. It is such a refreshing feeling to read a methodology book without jargons.