发明vs Discovery
Since invention and discovery appear to have similar meanings, but as it is not so, it is important to know the difference between invention and discovery. You invent something that did not previously exist. You discover something that existed but was not found before or not known until then. The physicist invents a transistor where as a biologist discovers the molecular structure of DNA. By inventing something, you would have thought upon it and put it into that form. You discover something that was already there, but you have come upon it with a view to finding it out. Now, let us explore these two words, invention and discovery, further.
发明是什么意思？
发明is thenounof theverbinvent. According to the Oxford dictionary invent means, “create or design (something that has not existed before); be the originator of.” Therefore, invention means as mentioned before, creating something that was not in existence before.
By inventing something, you create a product that was not existent on earth before. Invention is purely original in the sense that it is the result of your brain work. Your experimentation has resulted in the invention.
发明does not necessarily involve exploration. Invention amounts to creation. Alexander Graham Bell created the telephone. People still came to know about it when the announcement was made that Bell invented it.
发现是什么意思？
发现起源于动词发现。根据牛津词典的发现，在其许多定义中，“是第一个找到或观察的人（一个地方，物质或科学现象）。”从这个意义上讲，您发现已经存在的东西，但是您已经想到了它是为了找到它。
By discovering a thing, you find that thing which was on earth even before your discovery. Discovery of a thing has led people to know about it now though it existed well before it was found out.
Can you still call discovery an accident? If the discovery was done by someone such as a scientist or a biologist who was experimenting, it cannot be called an accident though since it had a purpose. The scientist or the biologist purposefully found out the thing. Therefore, discovery cannot be called an accident.
Discovery necessarily involves exploration. When something is discovered, it is made public so that people could understand it and its concept. Columbus discovered America and hence the place was made known to people. The place already existed even before Columbus found it.
What is the difference between Invention and Discovery?
在发明和发现之间也有一种哲学的约束。您有时通过使用前面发现的原则或法律来发明某些内容。匡威可能始终不正确。也可能是正确的。您可能会在发明的帮助下发现一些东西，例如科学工具或设备。因此，每个都不是完全独有的。他们也可以相互依赖。从逻辑上讲，您可以说发现是发明的子集。
发明is a process, whereas discovery needs not be a process. Invention can be the result of experimentation whereas discovery is the determination of an existence. You determine the existence of something in a discovery, whereas you create something by experimentation in an invention.
发明与自然无关，而发现与自然和周围环境有关。发现涉及文明，而发明不涉及文明。Mohenjodaro是一个发现，而飞机是一项发明。Mohenjodaro与文明有关，而飞机与文明无关。
Summary:
发明vs Discovery
• Invention is something you create by experimentation whereas discovery is finding out something that existed, but not known until then.
• Invention is a process whereas discovery is not a process.
• Invention has nothing to do with nature, whereas discovery has everything to do with nature.
• Invention is scientific whereas discovery is natural.
进一步阅读：
I see where you’re coming from Olivia, but like all semantic arguments you fall victim to your own preconceptions.
>”You invent something that did not previously exist. You discover a real thing that is already >existent.”
I believe “something” and “a real thing” are, if not synonyms, then at least concepts that overlap. Therefore, I maintain you could equally have said: “You invent a real thing that did not previously exist. You discover something that is already existent.” (Side note, “already existent” is redundant; what you mean is “preexisting.”) If we subtract the language common to both definitions, in addition to any redundant wording, we’re left with what I believe is the thrust of your argument: “You invent [what] did not exist. You discover [what] preexists.”
>”Can you still call discovery an accident. It cannot be called an accident though since it has a >purpose. The scientist or the biologist purposefully found out the thing. Therefore discovery cannot >be called an accident.”
Having been a biological scientist myself for 10 years I can tell you quite conclusively that it has no basis in fact or logic. Some of science’s greatest “discoveries” were made by “accident” or “serendipity.” Quite frequent a scientist will be conducting an experiment with a specific purpose in mind only to discover that (usually) by some failure of design, or execution, or conditions, or understanding, the scientist has discovered something they weren’t looking for.
>”Invention is a process, whereas discovery need not be a process. Invention can be the result of >experimentation, whereas discovery is the determination of an existence. You determine the >existence of something in a discovery, whereas you create something by experimentation in an >invention.”
再次,我要停止你在这里说that is a poorly conceived argument. It’s a generally accepted principle that ANYTHING can happen by accident. Invention need not be the result of the process of experimentation (and make no mistake, experimentation is a process.) Likewise, in modern science, virtually ALL discoveries (what you call “determination of an existence”) are the result of experimentation. Therefore I propose what your last sentence should state is: “Through the purposeful process of experimentation X1 (which is a form of exploration), or inadvertently (through error or circumstance), a scientist may determine the existence of (or discover) X2. Similarly, through the purposeful process of experimentation Y1 (which is a form of exploration), or inadvertently (through error or circumstance), an individual may determine the existence of (or create, or invent) Y2.”
>”Invention has nothing to do with nature, whereas discovery has everything to do with nature and >surroundings. Discovery involves civilizations whereas invention does not involve civilizations. >Mohenjodaro was a discovery whereas airplane was an invention. Mohenjodaro has to do with a >civilization while airplane has nothing to do with civilization.”
Here you draw an over-broad conclusion, indeed a generalization, based on a very specific example. Inventions rely on the principles and laws that govern nature (e.g., the Bernoulli principle for generating lift from an airplane wing) and may even exclusively employ the products of nature (e.g., genetically-modified organisms). Moreover, civilizations may be the driving force behind the impulse to invent (e.g., prehistoric man’s transition to an agrarian lifestyle from a nomadic one.)
And so, Olivia, I proffer a revised summary on the difference between invention and discovery should read as follows:
An invention is a man-made creation, whereas a discovery is the awareness and/or understanding of an existing natural phenomenon.
发明和发现都可能是由先入为主的实验过程或完全意想不到的后果引起的。
发明, which relies on the physical laws and principles governing the existence and activity of our universe, requires man-made manipulation of environment to produce an intended consequence that would otherwise have not occurred. On the other hand, discovery is the elucidation of the very physical laws and universal principles from which invention is possible.
a revised summary on the difference between invention and discovery should read as follows:
Your “revised summary” is an improvement because it distinguishes what is man made from what exists in nature. “An invention is a man-made creation, whereas a discovery is the awareness and/or understanding of an existing natural phenomenon.” But it utterly fails because it makes no attempt to explain the novelty, or newness, of either inventions or discoveries.