It's raining today, which makes it feel bitterly cold outside. I recently learned about the story of Mary Anderson, who invented windshield wipers. Unlike the famous anecdote about Newton's Apple, this story didn't involve a dramatic twist or sudden inspiration. Instead, she simply came up with the idea when she noticed the problem. This illustrates that one of the most important qualities an inventor can have is being observant. If inventors had accepted problems as usual occurrences without much thought, there wouldn't have been any new inventions at all. Having a keen eye for spotting opportunities seems to be the key.