Design ideas sometimes need technological or cultural preconditions to be fulfilled for innovation to happen. For example, social media platforms would not have happened without the invention of the Internet. However, such preconditioned-driven innovation has a long history. Galileo, the Renaissance astronomer (1564-1642), for instance, used his skills as a lens-maker to greatly improve existing telescopes which, together with the use of illustrated printed books, enabled him to prove his theory of a heliocentric universe. Galileo, then, both as a thinker (conceptual innovator) and a maker (experimental innovator), is a powerful example of the key role that technologies play in enabling advances in scientific knowledge. Also, Galileo's achievements show how innovation, as a problem-solving concept, is preconditioned on previous ideas, research or experiments. Moreover, designers, through analysing and interpreting historical innovations may identify which ideas have been successful and which haven't. As a result, establishing a positive relationship to history, past ideas pave the way for future innovation.
