NASA - Space - Cosmos - Inventors and Inventions - New York Times

NASA - Space - Cosmos - Inventors and Inventions - New York Times: "Much of mechanical innovation boils down to finding just the right compromises to such puzzles. Many of us think of invention or innovation as a wholly conceived, brand-new, big-leap-forward creation unlike anything that has preceded it. But much of mechanical success involves fiddling with the inherent conflicts within a device until you find a tiny interstice among the countervailing forces, that sweet spot, where the device suddenly does what you want it to do. In the case of the glove, the sweet spot is the precise tradeoff of restraint and flexibility that will allow for maximum dexterity."