This document provides an overview of a session on basic innovation concepts and the history of innovation theory. It discusses early thinkers like Schumpeter who viewed entrepreneurs as the drivers of innovation through "creative destruction". It also outlines models of technology cycles and dominant design. Later sections describe the rise of dedicated R&D departments in the 1950s and innovation diffusion research in the 1960s which examined how new ideas spread through social systems over time. The document is intended to give context on the major themes and theorists that have shaped the field of innovation management.