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Novelty, certainly an intriguing concept, is nevertheless elusive to grasp. What is it? Is novelty in the eyes of its creators? Or in the eyes of its beholders? Consider Spence Silver’s ruminations about his discovery of a substance that eventually became key to the formulation of 3M’s Post-it Notes:

Well, I was doing some experiments with a new polymer system and I made this material and said,“This is interesting.” When I looked at it under the microscope, it was beautiful! Little crystalline-like spheres. Clear polymer spheres that kind of sparkled in the light. The first time I saw it, I said,“This has got to be something.” Then I started telling people about it. Anyone who would listen. Technical directors, other scientists, the tech group I was part of. For the most part, I didn’t succeed at getting people excited about the adhesive. These people are busy. They’re not just sitting around waiting for the wild-eyed scientists from …