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Necessity is the mother of invention


...let us begin and create in idea a State; and yet a true creator is necessity, which is the mother of our invention.

"Necessity is the mother of invention" is an English-language proverb. It means, roughly, that the primary driving force for most new inventions is a need.

The author of this proverb is unknown. This phrase was familiar in England, but in Latin, not in English. In 1519, headmaster of Winchester and Eton, William Horma used the Latin phrase "Mater artium necessitas" in his book "Vulgaria". In 1545 Roger Ascham used a close English version of "Necessitie, the inuentour of all goodnesse" in his book "Toxophilus". In 1608, George Chapman also, in his two-part play "The Conspiracy and Tragedy of Charles, Duke of Byron" used a very similar phrase– "The great Mother, Of all productions (graue Necessity)." But, the earliest actual usage of the proverb "Necessity is the mother of invention" is sometimes ascribed to Richard Franck who used it in his book "Northern Memoirs", calculated for the meridian of Scotland (1658) .

"If necessity is the mother of invention, then laziness is the father." A driving force for engineers and coders, attributed to Allen Dale an engineer's engineer c 1990 in Erie, PA.

In an address to the Mathematical Association of England on the importance of education in 1917, Alfred North Whitehead argued that "the basis of invention is science, and science is almost wholly the outgrowth of pleasurable intellectual curiosity." and in contrast to the old proverb "Necessity is the mother of futile dodges" is much nearer to the truth.


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