5 stories about why society needs innovative talents

1. Newton in his later years

Newton is one of the greatest scientists in the world, and his contribution to science is unprecedented. Newton made many great discoveries in his life: the three laws of mechanics, universal gravitation, optical rings, the theory of light particles, the law of cooling and calculus.

However, in his later years, his research fell into the scope of Aristotle's Platonic theory and could not extricate himself. He spent ten years researching the existence of God and found nothing. From this point of view, even a great scholar cannot be said to have achieved the slightest achievement once he falls into the outdated category.

2. Mountain climbing supplies

Mr. Nomura, Japan’s largest tent manufacturer and chairman of Taiyo Industries, wants to build a new sales building in Tokyo. He was good at using his brain and thought that building only one building in Tokyo, where land is at a premium, would not only be difficult to recover the cost for a while, but the daily consumption of the building would also be a huge expense. How can we not only build a building but also open up new markets?

At that time, the rock climbing craze was rising in Japan, which gave Mr. Nomura an idea: Why not build an urban cliff to satisfy those cities? What are the hobbies of young people? After investigation and research, Mr. Nomura invited several architects to discuss repeatedly and decided to add some decorations to the outer wall of the ten-story sales building to build a cliff as a practice ground for climbing the cliff.

Half a year later, a cliff with many flowers, trees and grass stood proudly in downtown Tokyo, like a colorful and interesting paradise. On the opening day of the driving range, thousands of young people who love rock climbing happily gathered here to indulge their rock climbing addiction.

Scenery that could only be seen in the mountains and ridges in the past has appeared in the urban area of ??Tokyo. This has suddenly attracted people's attention, and countless citizens come here for sightseeing every day. After hearing the news, some rock climbing enthusiasts from other places took the trouble to go to Tokyo to show off their skills.

Then Mr. Nomura took advantage of this sensational effect and opened a store specializing in mountaineering supplies next door to the company. Soon, the store occupied the top position in the mountaineering supplies market due to its comprehensive range of products.

3. Be careful everywhere

In 1940, the American leather merchant Bacha received $10,000 after selling his patent on the food freezing method. This wealth was acquired entirely due to his hobby of fishing.

Bacha often went to the coast of Newfoundland and dug holes in the ice to fish. The fish caught from the sea will freeze hard immediately when placed on the ice. When the frozen fish was eaten a few days later, Bacha found that as long as the ice on the fish did not melt, the fish taste remained unchanged. Based on this discovery, Bacha began experimenting with freezing meat and vegetables.

He was delighted to discover that meat and vegetables could stay fresh as long as they were frozen like the fish. After repeated experiments, he further discovered that different freezing speeds and methods will affect the taste and freshness of frozen food. After months of tireless exploration, Bacha applied for a patent for the food freezing method he invented.

Because this is a new technology with great potential and application range, many people come to our door. Bacha waited for a price, and in the end, General Foods acquired the patent for a huge sum of 10,000 US dollars.

4. Mom-and-pop shops

In Tokyo, Japan, "mom-and-pop shops" can be seen everywhere. They are like little shrimps, full of life. Their existence often has their own extremely unusual business methods.

There is an "old mom-and-pop shop" that specializes in handkerchiefs. Since there are many varieties of handkerchiefs in supermarkets with new colors, they cannot win the competition, and the business is getting thinner. The old shop that has been operating for decades is about to close. , they spend their days in anxiety.

One day, my husband was sitting in a small shop, staring at the passers-by indifferently. Facing those well-dressed tourists, inspiration suddenly came to him. He couldn't help but shout out, which shocked his wife. I thought he was going crazy and was about to come forward to comfort me when I heard him mutter: "Guide map, print the tour map." "Change your career?" the wife asked in surprise.

"No, no, the handkerchief can be printed with prints, birds, or water. Why can't it be printed with a guide map? It can serve two purposes and will definitely be favored by tourists!" After hearing this, my wife suddenly realized, Say yes repeatedly.

As a result, the old couple immediately ordered a batch of handkerchiefs printed with Tokyo traffic maps and relevant scenic spot guides from the manufacturer, and publicized them widely. This idea really worked and the sales were huge.

Their mom-and-pop shop survived a desperate situation and became prosperous.

5. Kelp and MSG

Kelp is both a good dish and a good medicine, and has a good effect on goiter (ie, big neck disease). MSG is a condiment used by people when cooking.

One day two years ago, a chemistry professor named Ikeda Kikunae from the Imperial University of Japan was startled when he was eating vegetables and soup at home. He quickly asked his wife: "Why is this bowl of soup so delicious today?" "Then I stirred the bowl a few times with a spoon and found that in addition to a few slices of cucumber, there was also a little kelp in the soup.

With the agility and interest typical of a scientist, he conducted a detailed chemical analysis of kelp. After half a year of research, he discovered that kelp contained a substance - sodium glutamate, and gave it an elegant name - monosodium glutamate.

Later, he further invented a method to extract sodium glutamate using wheat and defatted soybeans as raw materials, which opened up broad prospects for the factory production of MSG.