Engines of our Ingenuity: No. 1700: Lost Agents.

To innovate literally means to add something new to what has already been invented. And that brings us to invention. Is invention too grand, or too personal, to be voiced? Two thoughts here: First, I cannot think of any invention that was made purely ab initio. We never pull invention out of completely empty air. In that sense, there is only innovation, and invention is just a daydream. On the other hand, you yourself have conceived utterly new ideas out of your imagination. The fact that you’ve drawn upon others takes nothing away from your originality. Think about the ancient inventor who first let wagon wheels rotate freely on a fixed axis instead of anchoring them to a rotating axle. That way wheels could turn at different speeds as they went around a corner. Since wagons and wheels were already there, was that person an innovator or an inventor? Well, the idea was surely born in the fiery brilliance of one mind. No matter that the mind worked in concert with many other minds; the fixed axle was invention.

I think he like ‘invention’ better!