Discovery and invention are sometimes confused. Essentially, however ; they are quite distinct. Discovery is the finding of something that has always been there though its existence or its meaning has remained hidden. Invention is the design of something new to be made from known materials. America, for example, was discovered; the United States was invented. America has always been there, though its existence was unknown, at least to Europeans, Until navigating explorers found it. But the United States was a combination of known materials, land, law and people.