author

Goodwin Brooke Smith

b. 1870

A practical early-20th-century voice on invention, patenting, and the business side of new ideas. Best known for How to Succeed as an Inventor (1909), he wrote for readers who wanted to turn ingenuity into something useful and profitable.

1 Audiobook

How to Succeed as an Inventor Showing the Wonderful Possibilities in the Field of Invention; the Dangers to Be Avoided; the Inventions Needed; How to Perfect and Develop New Ideas to the Money Making Stage

How to Succeed as an Inventor Showing the Wonderful Possibilities in the Field of Invention; the Dangers to Be Avoided; the Inventions Needed; How to Perfect and Develop New Ideas to the Money Making Stage

by Goodwin Brooke Smith

About the author

Born in 1870, Goodwin Brooke Smith is a little-documented American writer now chiefly remembered for How to Succeed as an Inventor, published in 1909. The book presents invention as both a creative pursuit and a disciplined business process, with advice on patents, development, and the common mistakes that can derail a promising idea.

The surviving record suggests he was closely connected to the patent world. In the text of How to Succeed as an Inventor, he is identified as a registered attorney with the United States Patent Office and as being connected with industrial enterprises, which helps explain the book's practical, encouraging tone.

Biographical details beyond that are scarce, but memorial records list him as living from 1870 to 1929. Today, his reputation rests on a single compact, energetic guide that captures the optimism of an era when invention was widely seen as a path to progress and opportunity.