There was a Russian inventor, called Genrich Altshuller, Who also worked as a patent examiner. And he invented a method called TRIZ , which is a systematic meth

There was a Russian inventor, called Genrich Altshuller, Who also worked as a patent examiner. And he invented a method called TRIZ , which is a systematic method of inventing things, based on highly abstract patterns evident in many inventions - a way you can teach every decent engineer to become highly inventive. It is a highly effective method(mostly for the physical world , less for IT afaik) , used in many large inventive organizations very successfully and behind many inventions. So in my eyes he is one of the most productive inventors in the world. Also he was sent to the soviet Gulag , a labor camp deep in frozen sybiria , but still remained hopeful and in good spirit , and in the Gulag he and others create a group that taught each other various fields , like architecture, literature ,science, etc - as a way to keep their humanity and not be broken.