Knowledge The key to understanding TRIZ

As we have already briefly mentioned in Section 9.2, History, one of Altshuller s first discoveries was that the key to inventions was engineering knowledge. Stan Kaplan, a TRIZ scholar and author (Kaplan 1996), has best captured this discovery  

TRIZ is the abstraction of engineering knowledge. It is the abstraction of knowledge from human experience and structuring of that knowledge for efficient and effective use. 

Kaplan (1996) has also provided an excellent example of knowledge abstraction. Quadratic equations can always be solved using the method of trial and error. However, each algebra book provides two formulas or abstract solutions that can be used to solve any quadratic equation. We could say that these abstract solutions represent our abstract and universal knowledge about solving quadratic equations that is, they are applicable to any quadratic equations. 

When we consider again acquiring knowledge from examples (e.g., learning from patents), the abstraction of engineering knowledge is a process 

Specialize abstract solutions for your specific problem 

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