It also offers a caution: the absence of immediate commercial success or immediate recognition is not evidence that the work is unworthy.

Mary Kenner knew her inventions were good, maintained that knowledge for decades in the absence of market validation, and was eventually proven right.

The capacity to maintain that kind of self-assessment — to trust one’s own judgment in the absence of external confirmation — is itself a form of intellectual courage.

The Unfinished Story of American Invention

American invention, as a cultural and historical phenomenon, is an unfinished story.

The version of that story that has been most widely told is incomplete, excluding the contributions of most of the people who have contributed to it, and the work of making it more complete is ongoing.