The Innovation Algorithm: TRIZ, Systematic Innovation and Technical Creativity, Genrich Altshuller, Technical Innovation Center, 1999 edition.
Altshuller was an inventor who systematically studied patents to learn the principles behind them. He developed “algorithms” to take advantage of the principles of invention. The root of the system is to discover the key contradiction and the ideal system. He suggests using a matrix mapping two contradictory desires to a set of principles that might address them. (Reviewed Jan., ’04)