[thackney]

George P. Mitchell, the old Texas wildcatter who had this strange idea of using fluids under high pressure to break up rocks far below the surface of the Earth

Strange idea? The industry had been doing the same for decades before. It took George a decade to come up with the right combination to be economic in the shale. But it wasn't a new idea, he just figured out the specific "recipe" to make it work in shale. No big break through, just years and millions of dollars of incremental improvements.

In his own words:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2013/08/interview-george-mitchell

[rlmorel]

Great linked article, thackney, thanks for posting it!