THE 10 MOST PROLIFIC INVENTORS: After Kevin Maney's search to find the 10 most prolific inventors alive today, he found that getting this information was harder than one would normally think. Today he has provided an update on his research, which was assisted by a number of commercial search firms. Here is the list:

(1) Shunpei Yamazaki, Japan, 1,432 patents (semiconductors)

(2) Donald Weder, Highland, Ill., 1,322 (floral arrangements)

(3) Kia Silverbrook, Sydney, 801 (various)

(4) George Spector, New York, 723 (various)

(5) Gurtej Sandhu, Boise, 576 (semiconductors)

(6) Warren Farnworth, Boise, 547 (semiconductors)

(7) Salman Akram, Boise, 527 (semiconductors)

(8) Mark Gardner, Cedar Creek, Texas, 512 (semiconductors)

(9) Heinze Focke, Verden, Germany, 508 (packaging)

(10) Joseph Straeter, Highland, Ill., 477 (flower arrangements)