No one really starts anything new, Mrs. Nemur. Everyone builds on other men’s failures. There is nothing really original in science. What each man contributes to the sum of knowledge is what counts.
No one can ever know in advance if a project is going to result in something useful. Results are often negative. We learn what something is not—and that is as important as a positive discovery to the man who is going to pick up from there. At least he knows what not to do.
from ‘Flowers for Algernon’ by Daniel Keyes.
Be it science or other aspects of society, the so-called invention cannot be credited to a single person or entity. When something new is discovered, it is always built upon the knowledge of previous failures or successes. In that way, every new invention is just an enhancement of previous attempts.