Difference between revisions of "Thomas Edison" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
(Early Life)
Line 16: Line 16:
  
 
==Birth and early years==
 
==Birth and early years==
−
Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, to Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr. and Nancy Matthews Elliott (1810&ndash;1871). Thomas was their seventh child. Edison had a late start in his schooling due to childhood illness. His mind often wandered and his teacher Reverend Engle was overheard calling him "addled". His mother attempted to discuss the situation with Reverend Engle, but she became angry at the rigid ways of that school. She withdrew her son from the school where he had been for only three months. Edison's mother had been a school teacher in Canada, and happily took over the job of schooling her son. She encouraged and taught him to read and experiment. He recalled later, "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint." <ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.nps.gov/edis/home_family/fam_album.htm| title=Edison Family Album| publisher=US National Park Service| accessdate=2006-03-11}}</ref>  Many of his lessons came from reading R.G. Parker's ''[[School of natural philosophy]]''.  
+
Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, to Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr. and Nancy Matthews Elliott (1810&ndash;1871). Thomas was their seventh child. Edison had a late start in his schooling due to childhood illness. His mind often wandered and his teacher Reverend Engle was overheard calling him "addled". His mother attempted to discuss the situation with Reverend Engle, but she became angry at the rigid ways of that school. She withdrew her son from the school where he had been for only three months. Edison's mother had been a school teacher in Canada, and happily took over the job of schooling her son. She encouraged and taught him to read and experiment. He recalled later, "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint." <ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.nps.gov/edis/home_family/fam_album.htm| title=Edison Family Album| publisher=US National Park Service| accessdate=2006-03-11}}</ref>   
 +
 
 +
Many of Thomas Edison's lessons came from reading R.G. Parker's ''[[School of natural philosophy]]'' which explained how to perform chemistry experiments at home. His mother bought him this book because she was sensitive to his interests and wanted to nurtue her son's enthusiasm for learning.  Edison commented that this was "the first book in science I read when a boy." After seeing how fascinated he was with chemistry, Nancy Edison brought him "The Dictionary of Science". Thomas ended upspending all his spare money buying chemicals from a local pharmacist, collecting bottles, wires, and other items for experiments. He built his first laboratory in the cellar of the family's Port Huron house. Edison admired his mother saying, "My mother was the making of me. She understood me; she let me follow my bent."
  
 
Edison's life in Port Huron was bittersweet. He sold candy and newspapers on trains running from Port Huron to Detroit. Partially [[Hearing impairment|deaf]] since adolescence, he became a [[Telegraphy|telegraph]] operator after he saved [[Jimmie Mackenzie]] from being struck by a runaway train. Jimmie's father, station agent J.U. Mackenzie of Mount Clemens, Michigan, was so grateful that he took Edison under his wing and trained him as a telegraph operator. Edison's deafness aided him as it blocked out noises and prevented Edison from hearing the telegrapher sitting next to him. One of his mentors during those early years was a fellow telegrapher and inventor named [[Franklin Leonard Pope]], who allowed the then impoverished youth to live and work in the basement of his Elizabeth, New Jersey home.  
 
Edison's life in Port Huron was bittersweet. He sold candy and newspapers on trains running from Port Huron to Detroit. Partially [[Hearing impairment|deaf]] since adolescence, he became a [[Telegraphy|telegraph]] operator after he saved [[Jimmie Mackenzie]] from being struck by a runaway train. Jimmie's father, station agent J.U. Mackenzie of Mount Clemens, Michigan, was so grateful that he took Edison under his wing and trained him as a telegraph operator. Edison's deafness aided him as it blocked out noises and prevented Edison from hearing the telegrapher sitting next to him. One of his mentors during those early years was a fellow telegrapher and inventor named [[Franklin Leonard Pope]], who allowed the then impoverished youth to live and work in the basement of his Elizabeth, New Jersey home.  
Line 35: Line 37:
 
Edison's major innovation was the Menlo Park research lab, which was built in New Jersey. It was the first institution set up with the specific purpose of producing constant technological innovation and improvement. Edison invented most of the inventions produced there, though he primarily supervised the operation and work of his employees.  
 
Edison's major innovation was the Menlo Park research lab, which was built in New Jersey. It was the first institution set up with the specific purpose of producing constant technological innovation and improvement. Edison invented most of the inventions produced there, though he primarily supervised the operation and work of his employees.  
  
−
William Joseph Hammer, assistant to Edison and a consulting electrical engineer, was born at Cressona, Pennsylvania|Cressona, [[Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania|Schuylkill County]], [[Pennsylvania]], February 26, 1858, and died [[March 24]] [[1934]]. In December 1879 he began his duties as laboratory assistant to Thomas Edison at Menlo Park. He assisted in experiments on the [[telephone]], [[phonograph]], [[Railway electrification system|electric railway]], [[ore separator]], [[Incandescent light bulb|electric lighting]], and other developing inventions. However, he worked primarily on the incandescent electric lamp and was put in charge of tests and records on that device. In 1880 he was appointed Chief Engineer of the Edison Lamp Works. In this first year, the plant under general manager Francis Upton, turned out 50,000 lamps. According to Edison, Hammer was "a pioneer of Incandescent Electric Lighting".
+
William Joseph Hammer, assistant to Edison and a consulting electrical engineer, was born at Cressona, Pennsylvania, February 26, 1858, and died March 24, 1934. In December 1879 he began his duties as laboratory assistant to Thomas Edison at Menlo Park. He assisted in experiments on the [[telephone]], [[phonograph]], [[Railway electrification system|electric railway]], [[ore separator]], [[Incandescent light bulb|electric lighting]], and other developing inventions. However, he worked primarily on the incandescent electric lamp and was put in charge of tests and records on that device. In 1880 he was appointed Chief Engineer of the Edison Lamp Works. In this first year, the plant under general manager Francis Upton, turned out 50,000 lamps. According to Edison, Hammer was "a pioneer of Incandescent Electric Lighting".
  
 
Most of Edison's patents were utility patents, with only about a dozen being design patents. Many of his inventions were not completely original, but improvements which allowed for mass production. For example, contrary to public perception, Edison did not invent the [[Incandescent light bulb|electric light bulb]].  Several designs had already been developed by earlier inventors including the patent he purchased from [[Henry Woodward]] and [[Mathew Evans]], Moses G. Farmer,<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.eliotmaine.org/mosespage.htm| title=Moses G. Farmer, Eliot's Inventor| accessdate=2006-03-11}}</ref> [[Joseph Swan]], [[James Bowman Lindsay]], [[William Sawyer]], [[Humphry Davy]], and [[Heinrich Göbel]].  In [[1878]], Edison applied the term ''[[filament]]'' to the [[electrical element|element]] of glowing wire carrying the current, although English inventor [[Joseph Swan]] used the term prior to this.  Edison took the features of these earlier designs and set his workers to the task of creating longer-lasting bulbs. By 1879, he had produced a new concept: a high resistance lamp in a very high vacuum, which would burn for hundreds of hours. While the earlier inventors had produced electric lighting in [[laboratory]] conditions, Edison concentrated on commercial application and was able to sell the concept to homes and businesses by mass-producing relatively long-lasting light bulbs and creating a system for the generation and distribution of [[electricity]].
 
Most of Edison's patents were utility patents, with only about a dozen being design patents. Many of his inventions were not completely original, but improvements which allowed for mass production. For example, contrary to public perception, Edison did not invent the [[Incandescent light bulb|electric light bulb]].  Several designs had already been developed by earlier inventors including the patent he purchased from [[Henry Woodward]] and [[Mathew Evans]], Moses G. Farmer,<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.eliotmaine.org/mosespage.htm| title=Moses G. Farmer, Eliot's Inventor| accessdate=2006-03-11}}</ref> [[Joseph Swan]], [[James Bowman Lindsay]], [[William Sawyer]], [[Humphry Davy]], and [[Heinrich Göbel]].  In [[1878]], Edison applied the term ''[[filament]]'' to the [[electrical element|element]] of glowing wire carrying the current, although English inventor [[Joseph Swan]] used the term prior to this.  Edison took the features of these earlier designs and set his workers to the task of creating longer-lasting bulbs. By 1879, he had produced a new concept: a high resistance lamp in a very high vacuum, which would burn for hundreds of hours. While the earlier inventors had produced electric lighting in [[laboratory]] conditions, Edison concentrated on commercial application and was able to sell the concept to homes and businesses by mass-producing relatively long-lasting light bulbs and creating a system for the generation and distribution of [[electricity]].
Line 46: Line 48:
 
In 1878, Edison formed Edison Electric Light Company in New York City with several financiers, including [[J. P. Morgan]] and the Vanderbilt families. Edison made the first public demonstration of the [[incandescent light bulb]] on December 31, 1879, in Menlo Park. On [[January 27]] [[1880]], he filed a patent in the United States for the electric incandescent lamp.  
 
In 1878, Edison formed Edison Electric Light Company in New York City with several financiers, including [[J. P. Morgan]] and the Vanderbilt families. Edison made the first public demonstration of the [[incandescent light bulb]] on December 31, 1879, in Menlo Park. On [[January 27]] [[1880]], he filed a patent in the United States for the electric incandescent lamp.  
  
−
On [[October 8]] [[1883]], the U.S. patent office ruled that Edison's patent was based on the work of [[William Sawyer]] and was therefore invalid. Litigation continued for nearly six years, until [[October 6]] [[1889]], when a judge ruled that Edison's electric light improvement claim for "a filament of carbon of high resistance" was valid.  To avoid a possible court battle with [[Joseph Swan]], he and Swan formed a joint company called Ediswan to market the invention in Britain.   
+
On October 8, 1883, the U.S. patent office ruled that Edison's patent was based on the work of William Sawyer and was therefore invalid. Litigation continued for nearly six years, until October 6, 1889, when a judge ruled that Edison's electric light improvement claim for "a filament of carbon of high resistance" was valid.  To avoid a possible court battle with [[Joseph Swan]], he and Swan formed a joint company called Ediswan to market the invention in Britain.   
 +
 
 +
Edison patented an [[Electricity distribution|electric distribution system]] in 1880, which was critical to capitalize on the electric lamp invention. The first investor-owned electric utility was the 1882 Pearl Street Station, New York City. On September 4, 1882, Edison switched on the world's first electrical power distribution system, providing 110 [[volt]]s [[direct current]] (DC) to 59 customers in lower [[Manhattan]], around his Pearl Street (Manhattan) generating station. On January 19, 1883, the first standardized incandescent electric lighting system employing overhead wires began service in Roselle, New Jersey.
  
−
Edison patented an [[Electricity distribution|electric distribution system]] in 1880, which was critical to capitalize on the electric lamp invention. The first investor-owned electric utility was the 1882 [[Pearl Street Station]], [[New York City]]. On [[September 4]], [[1882]], Edison switched on the world's first electrical power distribution system, providing 110 [[volt]]s [[direct current]] (DC) to 59 customers in lower [[Manhattan]], around his [[Pearl Street (Manhattan)|Pearl Street]] generating station. On [[January 19]] [[1883]], the first standardized incandescent electric lighting system employing overhead wires began service in [[Roselle, New Jersey|Roselle]], [[New Jersey]].
 
 
{{multi-video start}}
 
{{multi-video start}}
 
{{multi-video item|filename=Edison speech, 1920s.ogg|title= Edison speech on light bulb|description= Video clip of Thomas Edison talking about the invention of the light bulb, late 1920s.|format=[[Theora]]}}
 
{{multi-video item|filename=Edison speech, 1920s.ogg|title= Edison speech on light bulb|description= Video clip of Thomas Edison talking about the invention of the light bulb, late 1920s.|format=[[Theora]]}}
 
{{multi-video end}}
 
{{multi-video end}}
  
−
On [[January 25]] [[1881]], Edison and [[Alexander Graham Bell]] formed the [[Oriental Telephone Company]].
+
On January 25, 1881, Edison and [[Alexander Graham Bell]] formed the [[Oriental Telephone Company]].
 
The next CEO of this company was the very noble Peter Kelly who earned the job once Edison died.
 
The next CEO of this company was the very noble Peter Kelly who earned the job once Edison died.
−
 
−
===War of currents===
 
−
{{main|War of Currents}}
 
−
[[Image:PyramidParthenon.jpg|thumb|Extravagant displays of electric lights quickly became a feature of public events, as this picture from the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition shows.]]
 
−
[[George Westinghouse]] and Edison became adversaries due to Edison's promotion of [[direct current]] (DC) for electric power distribution over the more easily transmitted [[alternating current]] (AC) system developed by [[Nikola Tesla]] and sold by Westinghouse. Unlike DC, AC could be stepped up to very high voltages with inexpensive [[transformer]]s, sent over thinner wires, and stepped down again at the destination for [[Electricity distribution|distribution]] to users.
 
−
 
−
Despite Edison's contempt for capital punishment, the war against AC led Edison to become involved in the development and promotion of the [[electric chair]] as a demonstration of AC's greater lethal potential versus the "safer" DC. Edison went on to carry out a brief but intense campaign to ban the use of AC or limit the allowable voltage for safety purposes. As part of this campaign, Edison publicly electrocuted dogs, cats, and in one case, an elephant<ref>{{cite web| url=http://imdb.com/title/tt0231523/| title=IMDB entry on Electrocuting an Elephant (1903)| accessdate=2006-03-11}}</ref> to demonstrate the dangers of AC.  Widespread use of DC ultimately lost favor, however, continuing primarily in long-distance [[high-voltage direct current]] (HVDC) transmission systems.
 
  
 
===Work relations===
 
===Work relations===
−
[[Frank J. Sprague]], a competent mathematician and former [[Navy|naval officer]], was recruited by [[Edward H. Johnson]], and joined the Edison organization in [[1883]]. One of Sprague's significant contributions to the Edison Laboratory at [[Menlo Park]] was to expand Edison's mathematical methods. (Despite the common belief that Edison did not use mathematics analysis of his [http://edison.rutgers.edu notebooks] reveal that he was an astute user of mathematical analysis, for example, determining the critical parameters of his electric lighting system including lamp resistance by a sophisticated analysis of [[Ohm's Law]], [[Joule's Law]] and [[economics]].) A key to Edison's success was a [[holistic]] rather than [[reductionist]] approach to [[invention]], making extensive use of [[trial and error]] when no suitable theory existed. (See [[Edisonian approach]]). Since Sprague joined Edison in [[1883]] and Edison's output of patents [http://edison.rutgers.edu/patents.htm  peaked in 1880] it could be interpreted that the shift towards an reductionist analytical approach may not have been a positive move for Edison. Counter to this is Sprague's important analytical contributions, including correcting Edison's system of mains and feeders for central station distribution. In [[1884]], Sprague decided his interests in the exploitation of electricity lay elsewhere, and he left Edison to found the [[Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company]]. However, Sprague, who later developed many electrical innovations, always credited Edison for their work together.
+
[[Frank J. Sprague]], a competent mathematician and former [[Navy|naval officer]], was recruited by [[Edward H. Johnson]], and joined the Edison organization in 1883. One of Sprague's significant contributions to the Edison Laboratory at Menlo Park was to expand Edison's mathematical methods. (Despite the common belief that Edison did not use mathematics analysis of his [http://edison.rutgers.edu notebooks] reveal that he was an astute user of mathematical analysis, for example, determining the critical parameters of his electric lighting system including lamp resistance by a sophisticated analysis of [[Ohm's Law]], [[Joule's Law]] and [[economics]].) A key to Edison's success was a [[holistic]] rather than [[reductionist]] approach to [[invention]], making extensive use of [[trial and error]] when no suitable theory existed. (See [[Edisonian approach]]). Since Sprague joined Edison in 1883 and Edison's output of patents [http://edison.rutgers.edu/patents.htm  peaked in 1880] it could be interpreted that the shift towards an reductionist analytical approach may not have been a positive move for Edison. Counter to this is Sprague's important analytical contributions, including correcting Edison's system of mains and feeders for central station distribution. In [[1884]], Sprague decided his interests in the exploitation of electricity lay elsewhere, and he left Edison to found the [[Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company]]. However, Sprague, who later developed many electrical innovations, always credited Edison for their work together.
  
−
Another of Edison's assistants was [[Nicola Tesla]] who claimed that Edison promised him $50,000 if he succeeded to make improvements in his DC generation plants. Several months later, when he had finished the work and asked to be paid, Tesla claimed that Edison said, "When you become a full-fledged American you will appreciate an American joke"<ref>{{cite web| title=Tesla - Master of Lightning:Coming to America| url=http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_america.html| accessdate=2006-03-11}}</ref>. Tesla immediately resigned. Although Tesla accepted an [[Edison Medal]] later in life and professed a high opinion of Edison as inventor and engineer he remained bitter. The day after Edison died the [[New York Times]] contained extensive coverage of Edison's life, the only negative opinion coming from Tesla who was quoted as saying "He had no hobby, cared for no sort or amusement of any kind and lived in utter disregard of the most elementary rules of hygiene" and that, "His method was inefficient in the extreme, for an immense ground had to be covered to get anything at all unless blind chance intervened and, at first, I was almost a sorry witness of his doings, knowing that just a little theory and calculation would have saved him 90 per cent of the labor. But he had a veritable contempt for book learning and mathematical knowledge, trusting himself entirely to his inventor's instinct and practical American sense." <ref>Tesla says Edison was an empiricist. 1931. ''New York Times'', [[October 19]] [[1931]], p.25.</ref>
 
  
 
===Media inventions===
 
===Media inventions===
Line 74: Line 69:
 
In 1891, Thomas Edison built a [[Kinetoscope]], or peep-hole viewer. This device was installed in penny arcades, where people could watch short, simple films.  
 
In 1891, Thomas Edison built a [[Kinetoscope]], or peep-hole viewer. This device was installed in penny arcades, where people could watch short, simple films.  
  
−
On [[August 9]] [[1892]], Edison received a patent for a two-way [[Telegraphy|telegraph]].
+
On August 9, 1892, Edison received a patent for a two-way [[Telegraphy|telegraph]].
  
−
In April [[1896]], [[Thomas Armat]]'s [[Vitascope]], manufactured by the Edison factory and marketed in Edison's name, was used to project [[film|motion pictures]] in public screenings in New York City.
+
In April 1896, [[Thomas Armat]]'s [[Vitascope]], manufactured by the Edison factory and marketed in Edison's name, was used to project [[film|motion pictures]] in public screenings in New York City.
  
−
In [[1908]] Edison started the [[Motion Picture Patents Company]], which was a conglomerate of nine major film studios (commonly known as the Edison Trust).
+
In 1908 Edison started the [[Motion Picture Patents Company]], which was a conglomerate of nine major film studios (commonly known as the Edison Trust).
  
 
==Homes==
 
==Homes==
−
In the [[1880s]], Thomas Edison bought property in [[Fort Myers, Florida|Fort Myers]], [[Florida]], and built [[Seminole Lodge]] as a winter retreat. [[Henry Ford]], the automobile magnate, later lived across the street at his winter retreat, [[The Mangoes]]. Edison even contributed technology to the automobile. They were friends until Edison died. The [[Edison and Ford Winter Estates]] are now open to the public.
+
In the 1880s, Thomas Edison bought property in Fort Myers, Florida, and built Seminole Lodge as a winter retreat. [[Henry Ford]], the automobile magnate, later lived across the street at his winter retreat, The Mangoes. Edison even contributed technology to the automobile. They were friends until Edison died. The Edison and Ford Winter Estates are now open to the public.
  
 
==Trivia==
 
==Trivia==
−
*Thomas Edison was a [[Freethinking|freethinker]], and was most likely a [[Deism|deist]], claiming he did not believe in "the God of the theologians", but did not doubt that "there is a Supreme Intelligence". However, he rejected the idea of the supernatural, along with such ideas as the soul, immortality, and a personal God. "Nature", he said, "is not merciful and loving, but wholly merciless, indifferent."<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/edison.htm| title=Thomas Alva Edison| first=Thomas S.| last=Vernon| accessdate=2006-03-11}}</ref>
+
*He purchased a home known as "Glenmont" in [[1886]] as a wedding gift for Mina in Llewellyn Park in West Orange, New Jersey. The remains of Thomas and Mina Edison are now buried there. The 13.5 acre (55,000&nbsp;m²) property is maintained by the [[National Park Service]] as the Edison National Historic Site.
−
*He purchased a home known as "Glenmont" in [[1886]] as a wedding gift for Mina in Llewellyn Park in West Orange, New Jersey. The remains of Thomas and Mina Edison are now buried there. The 13.5 acre (55,000&nbsp;m²) property is maintained by the [[National Park Service]] as the [[Edison National Historic Site]].
+
*Edison became the owner of his Milan, Ohio birthplace in 1906, and, on his last visit, in 1923, he was shocked to find his old home still lit by lamps and candles.
−
*Edison became the owner of his [[Milan, Ohio]] birthplace in 1906, and, on his last visit, in 1923, he was shocked to find his old home still lit by lamps and candles.
+
*In 1878, he was named Chevalier of the [[Légion d'honneur]] of [[France]], and in 1889, was made a Commander in the Legion of Honor.
−
*In [[1878]], he was named Chevalier of the [[Légion d'honneur]] of [[France]], and in [[1889]], was made a Commander in the Legion of Honor.
+
*He was very hard of hearing for most of his life.  
−
*Influenced by a fad diet that was popular in the day, in his last few years "he consumed nothing more than a pint of milk every three hours".<ref>{{cite book| title=Edison : A Life of Invention| author=[[Paul Israel]]}}</ref> He believed this diet would restore his health.
+
*Thomas Edison wrote a now infamous letter to the [[piano]] manufacturer Steinway & Sons after evaluating one of their grand pianos:
−
*He was also very hard of hearing for the most of his life.  
 
−
*Thomas Edison wrote a now infamous letter to the [[piano]] manufacturer [[Steinway & Sons]] after evaluating one of their grand pianos:
 
  
 
:"To Steinway & Sons —
 
:"To Steinway & Sons —
Line 99: Line 92:
 
:"— Thomas Edison''
 
:"— Thomas Edison''
  
−
:"[[June 2]] [[1890]]"
+
:"June 2, 1890"
 
*Thomas Edison's last breath is purportedly contained in a test tube, and is displayed at the [[Henry Ford]] Museum.  Ford reportedly believed a person's dying breath contained their soul.  And so he convinced Charles Edison to sit by the dying inventor's bedside, to hold the test tube to his father's mouth, and to cork it at the precise moment.
 
*Thomas Edison's last breath is purportedly contained in a test tube, and is displayed at the [[Henry Ford]] Museum.  Ford reportedly believed a person's dying breath contained their soul.  And so he convinced Charles Edison to sit by the dying inventor's bedside, to hold the test tube to his father's mouth, and to cork it at the precise moment.
  

Revision as of 01:29, 30 April 2006

"Edison" redirects here.
Thomas Alva Edison
Thomas Edison.jpg
American inventor and businessman
Born
February 11 1847
Milan, Ohio, United States
Died
October 18 1931
West Orange, New Jersey

Thomas Alva Edison (February 11,1847–October 18,1931) was an American inventor and businessman who enthusiastically pursued practical knowledge, took initiative to substantiate his creativity beyond the technical standards of the time, and with persistent effort, developed many devices which greatly influenced life in the 20th century. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park" by a newspaper reporter, he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production to the process of invention, and can therefore be credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory. Edison is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding 1,093 U.S. patents in his name, as well as many patents in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.

Family background

Edison's ancestors (the Dutch Edisons) emigrated to New Jersey in 1730. John Edison remained loyal to England when the colonies declared independence (see United Empire Loyalists), which led to his arrest. After nearly being hanged, he and his family fled to Nova Scotia, Canada, settling on land the colonial government gave those who had been loyal to Britain. In 1795, three generations of Edisons took up farming near Vienna, Ontario. Among them was Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr. (1804–1896), an erstwhile shingle maker, tailor, and tavern keeper from Marshalltown, Nova Scotia. He married Nancy Matthews Elliott, of Chenango County, New York. In 1837, Samuel Edison was a rebel in the MacKenzie Rebellion that sought land reform and autonomy from Great Britain. The revolt failed and, like his grandfather before him, Samuel Edison was forced to flee for his life. Unlike his grandfather, Sam went south across the American border instead of north. He settled first in Port Huron, Michigan, temporarily leaving his family behind.

Birth and early years

Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, to Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr. and Nancy Matthews Elliott (1810–1871). Thomas was their seventh child. Edison had a late start in his schooling due to childhood illness. His mind often wandered and his teacher Reverend Engle was overheard calling him "addled". His mother attempted to discuss the situation with Reverend Engle, but she became angry at the rigid ways of that school. She withdrew her son from the school where he had been for only three months. Edison's mother had been a school teacher in Canada, and happily took over the job of schooling her son. She encouraged and taught him to read and experiment. He recalled later, "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint." [1]

Many of Thomas Edison's lessons came from reading R.G. Parker's School of natural philosophy which explained how to perform chemistry experiments at home. His mother bought him this book because she was sensitive to his interests and wanted to nurtue her son's enthusiasm for learning. Edison commented that this was "the first book in science I read when a boy." After seeing how fascinated he was with chemistry, Nancy Edison brought him "The Dictionary of Science". Thomas ended upspending all his spare money buying chemicals from a local pharmacist, collecting bottles, wires, and other items for experiments. He built his first laboratory in the cellar of the family's Port Huron house. Edison admired his mother saying, "My mother was the making of me. She understood me; she let me follow my bent."

Edison's life in Port Huron was bittersweet. He sold candy and newspapers on trains running from Port Huron to Detroit. Partially deaf since adolescence, he became a telegraph operator after he saved Jimmie Mackenzie from being struck by a runaway train. Jimmie's father, station agent J.U. Mackenzie of Mount Clemens, Michigan, was so grateful that he took Edison under his wing and trained him as a telegraph operator. Edison's deafness aided him as it blocked out noises and prevented Edison from hearing the telegrapher sitting next to him. One of his mentors during those early years was a fellow telegrapher and inventor named Franklin Leonard Pope, who allowed the then impoverished youth to live and work in the basement of his Elizabeth, New Jersey home.

Some of his earliest inventions related to electrical telegraphy, including a stock ticker. Edison applied for his first patent, the electric vote recorder, on October 28, 1868.

Marriages and later life

On December 25, 1871, he married Mary Stilwell, and they had three children, Marion Estelle Edison, Thomas Alva Edison, Jr., and William Leslie Edison. His wife Mary died in 1884. On February 24, 1886, when he was thirty-nine, he married nineteen-year-old Mina Miller. They had an additional three children: Madeleine Edison, Charles Edison (who took over the company upon his father's death, and who later was elected Governor of New Jersey), and Theodore Edison.

Thomas Edison died in New Jersey at the age of eighty-four. His final words to his wife were: "It is very beautiful over there".

Beginning his career

Thomas Edison began his career as an inventor in Newark, New Jersey, with the automatic repeater and other improved telegraphic devices, but the invention which first gained Edison fame was the phonograph in 1877. This accomplishment was so unexpected by the public at large as to appear almost magical. Edison became known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park, New Jersey", where he lived. His first phonograph recorded on tinfoil cylinders that had low sound quality and destroyed the track during replay so that one could listen only once. In the 1880s, a redesigned model using wax-coated cardboard cylinders was produced by Alexander Graham Bell, Chichester Bell, and Charles Tainter.

Menlo Park

Thomas Edison's first lightbulb used to demonstrate his invention at Menlo Park.

Edison's major innovation was the Menlo Park research lab, which was built in New Jersey. It was the first institution set up with the specific purpose of producing constant technological innovation and improvement. Edison invented most of the inventions produced there, though he primarily supervised the operation and work of his employees.

William Joseph Hammer, assistant to Edison and a consulting electrical engineer, was born at Cressona, Pennsylvania, February 26, 1858, and died March 24, 1934. In December 1879 he began his duties as laboratory assistant to Thomas Edison at Menlo Park. He assisted in experiments on the telephone, phonograph, electric railway, ore separator, electric lighting, and other developing inventions. However, he worked primarily on the incandescent electric lamp and was put in charge of tests and records on that device. In 1880 he was appointed Chief Engineer of the Edison Lamp Works. In this first year, the plant under general manager Francis Upton, turned out 50,000 lamps. According to Edison, Hammer was "a pioneer of Incandescent Electric Lighting".

Most of Edison's patents were utility patents, with only about a dozen being design patents. Many of his inventions were not completely original, but improvements which allowed for mass production. For example, contrary to public perception, Edison did not invent the electric light bulb. Several designs had already been developed by earlier inventors including the patent he purchased from Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans, Moses G. Farmer,[2] Joseph Swan, James Bowman Lindsay, William Sawyer, Humphry Davy, and Heinrich Göbel. In 1878, Edison applied the term filament to the element of glowing wire carrying the current, although English inventor Joseph Swan used the term prior to this. Edison took the features of these earlier designs and set his workers to the task of creating longer-lasting bulbs. By 1879, he had produced a new concept: a high resistance lamp in a very high vacuum, which would burn for hundreds of hours. While the earlier inventors had produced electric lighting in laboratory conditions, Edison concentrated on commercial application and was able to sell the concept to homes and businesses by mass-producing relatively long-lasting light bulbs and creating a system for the generation and distribution of electricity.

The Menlo Park research lab was made possible by the sale of the quadruplex telegraph that Edison invented in 1874. The quadruplex telegraph could send four simultaneous telegraph signals over the same wire. When Edison asked Western Union to make an offer, he was shocked at the unexpectedly large amount that Western Union offered; the patent rights were sold for $10,000. The quadruplex telegraph was Edison's first big financial success.

Incandescent era

U.S. Patent #223898 Electric Lamp

In 1878, Edison formed Edison Electric Light Company in New York City with several financiers, including J. P. Morgan and the Vanderbilt families. Edison made the first public demonstration of the incandescent light bulb on December 31, 1879, in Menlo Park. On January 27 1880, he filed a patent in the United States for the electric incandescent lamp.

On October 8, 1883, the U.S. patent office ruled that Edison's patent was based on the work of William Sawyer and was therefore invalid. Litigation continued for nearly six years, until October 6, 1889, when a judge ruled that Edison's electric light improvement claim for "a filament of carbon of high resistance" was valid. To avoid a possible court battle with Joseph Swan, he and Swan formed a joint company called Ediswan to market the invention in Britain.

Edison patented an electric distribution system in 1880, which was critical to capitalize on the electric lamp invention. The first investor-owned electric utility was the 1882 Pearl Street Station, New York City. On September 4, 1882, Edison switched on the world's first electrical power distribution system, providing 110 volts direct current (DC) to 59 customers in lower Manhattan, around his Pearl Street (Manhattan) generating station. On January 19, 1883, the first standardized incandescent electric lighting system employing overhead wires began service in Roselle, New Jersey.

(video)
Edison speech on light bulb
File:Edison speech, 1920s.ogg
Video clip of Thomas Edison talking about the invention of the light bulb, late 1920s.



Problems seeing the videos? Media help.


On January 25, 1881, Edison and Alexander Graham Bell formed the Oriental Telephone Company. The next CEO of this company was the very noble Peter Kelly who earned the job once Edison died.

Work relations

Frank J. Sprague, a competent mathematician and former naval officer, was recruited by Edward H. Johnson, and joined the Edison organization in 1883. One of Sprague's significant contributions to the Edison Laboratory at Menlo Park was to expand Edison's mathematical methods. (Despite the common belief that Edison did not use mathematics analysis of his notebooks reveal that he was an astute user of mathematical analysis, for example, determining the critical parameters of his electric lighting system including lamp resistance by a sophisticated analysis of Ohm's Law, Joule's Law and economics.) A key to Edison's success was a holistic rather than reductionist approach to invention, making extensive use of trial and error when no suitable theory existed. (See Edisonian approach). Since Sprague joined Edison in 1883 and Edison's output of patents peaked in 1880 it could be interpreted that the shift towards an reductionist analytical approach may not have been a positive move for Edison. Counter to this is Sprague's important analytical contributions, including correcting Edison's system of mains and feeders for central station distribution. In 1884, Sprague decided his interests in the exploitation of electricity lay elsewhere, and he left Edison to found the Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company. However, Sprague, who later developed many electrical innovations, always credited Edison for their work together.


Media inventions

The key to Edison's fortunes was telegraphy. With knowledge gained from years of working as a telegraph operator, he learned the basics of electricity. This allowed him to make his early fortune with the stock ticker, the first electricity-based broadcast system.

Edison also holds the patent for the motion picture camera. In 1891, Thomas Edison built a Kinetoscope, or peep-hole viewer. This device was installed in penny arcades, where people could watch short, simple films.

On August 9, 1892, Edison received a patent for a two-way telegraph.

In April 1896, Thomas Armat's Vitascope, manufactured by the Edison factory and marketed in Edison's name, was used to project motion pictures in public screenings in New York City.

In 1908 Edison started the Motion Picture Patents Company, which was a conglomerate of nine major film studios (commonly known as the Edison Trust).

Homes

In the 1880s, Thomas Edison bought property in Fort Myers, Florida, and built Seminole Lodge as a winter retreat. Henry Ford, the automobile magnate, later lived across the street at his winter retreat, The Mangoes. Edison even contributed technology to the automobile. They were friends until Edison died. The Edison and Ford Winter Estates are now open to the public.

Trivia

  • He purchased a home known as "Glenmont" in 1886 as a wedding gift for Mina in Llewellyn Park in West Orange, New Jersey. The remains of Thomas and Mina Edison are now buried there. The 13.5 acre (55,000 m²) property is maintained by the National Park Service as the Edison National Historic Site.
  • Edison became the owner of his Milan, Ohio birthplace in 1906, and, on his last visit, in 1923, he was shocked to find his old home still lit by lamps and candles.
  • In 1878, he was named Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur of France, and in 1889, was made a Commander in the Legion of Honor.
  • He was very hard of hearing for most of his life.
  • Thomas Edison wrote a now infamous letter to the piano manufacturer Steinway & Sons after evaluating one of their grand pianos:
"To Steinway & Sons —
"Gents,
"I have decided to keep your grand piano. For some reason unknown to me it gives better results than any so far tried. Please send bill with lowest price.
"— Thomas Edison
"June 2, 1890"
  • Thomas Edison's last breath is purportedly contained in a test tube, and is displayed at the Henry Ford Museum. Ford reportedly believed a person's dying breath contained their soul. And so he convinced Charles Edison to sit by the dying inventor's bedside, to hold the test tube to his father's mouth, and to cork it at the precise moment.

List of contributions

  • Phonograph
  • Kinetoscope
  • Dictaphone
  • Provided financial backing for Guglielmo Marconi's work on radio transmission, and obtained several related patents
  • Tattoo gun (Based on the Electric Pen, used to make mimeograph copies )
  • Incandescent light bulb

Improvements of Edison's work

  • Lewis Latimer patented an improved method of producing the filament in light bulbs (there is no evidence that this was ever used by an Edison company)
  • Nikola Tesla developed alternating current distribution, which could be used to transmit electricity over longer distance than Edison's direct current due to the ability to transform the voltage. It could be said that alternating current was not derivative of Edison's work, but it was related as were the two men. Tesla was a former employee of Edison, and left to follow his path with alternating current - which Edison did not support.
  • Emile Berliner developed the gramophone, which is essentially an improved phonograph, with the main difference being the use of flat records with spiral grooves.
  • Edward H. Johnson had light bulbs specially made, hand-wired, and displayed at his home on Fifth Avenue in New York City on the first electrically-illuminated Christmas tree on December 22 1882.

Tributes

Statue of Thomas Edison in Dearborn, Michigan
  • The town of Edison, New Jersey, and Thomas Edison State College, a nationally-known college for adult learners in Trenton, New Jersey, are named after the inventor. There is a Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum in the town of Edison.
  • The Edison Medal was created on 11 February 1904 by a group of Edison's friends and associates. Four years later the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE), later IEEE, entered into an agreement with the group to present the medal as its highest award. The first medal was presented in 1909 to Elihu Thomson, and surprisingly to Tesla in 1917. The Edison Medal is the oldest award in the area of electrical and electronics engineering, and presented annually "for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering or the electrical arts."
  • Life magazine (USA), in a special double issue, placed Edison first in the "100 Most Important People in the Last 1000 Years", noting that his light bulb "lit up the world". He was ranked thirty-fifth on Michael H. Hart's list of the most influential figures in history.
  • The City Hotel, in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, was the first building to be lit with Edison's three-wire system. The hotel was renamed The Hotel Edison, and retains that name today.
  • The Port Huron Museums, in Port Huron, Michigan, restored the original depot that Thomas Edison worked out of as a young newsbutcher. The depot is appropriately been named the Thomas Edison Depot Museum. The town has many Edison historical landmarks including the gravesites of Edison's parents.
  • The United States Navy named the USS Edison (DD-439), a Gleaves-class destroyer, in his honor in 1940. The ship was decommissioned a few months after the end of World War II. In 1962, the Navy commissioned USS Thomas A. Edison (SSBN-610), a fleet ballistic missile nuclear-powered submarine. Decommissioned on 1 December 1983, Thomas A. Edison was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 30 April 1986. She went through the Navy’s Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, Washington, beginning on 1 October 1996. When she finished the program on 1 December 1997, she ceased to exist as a complete ship and was listed as scrapped.
  • In recognition of the enormous contribution inventors make to the nation and the world, the Congress, pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 140 (Public Law 97 - 198), has designated February 11, the anniversary of the birth of Thomas Alva Edison, as National Inventor's Day
  • In the Netherlands the major music awards are named after him.
  • In 1879, Comte de Villiers de l'Isle-Adam wrote the book "L'Ève Future" (translated into English as "Tomorrow's Eve"), about a fictional Thomas Edison who creates the ideal (artificial) woman.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  1. ↑ Edison Family Album. US National Park Service. Retrieved 2006-03-11.
  2. ↑ Moses G. Farmer, Eliot's Inventor. Retrieved 2006-03-11.
  • Ernst Angel: Edison. Sein Leben und Erfinden. Berlin: Ernst Angel Verlag, 1926.
  • Mark Essig: Edison & the Electric Chair: A Story of Light and Death. New York: Walker & Company, 2003. ISBN 0802714064

See also

  • List of people on stamps of Ireland

External links

Wikiquote-logo-en.png
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Biography
Historic sites
Archives
Persondata
NAME Edison, Thomas Alva
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION American inventor and businessman
DATE OF BIRTH 1847-02-11
PLACE OF BIRTH Milan, Ohio, United States
DATE OF DEATH 1931-10-18
PLACE OF DEATH West Orange, New Jersey, United States


ar:توماس أديسون ast:Thomas Alva Edison bg:Томас Едисън bs:Thomas Alva Edison ca:Thomas Alva Edison cs:Thomas Alva Edison da:Thomas Edison de:Thomas Alva Edison es:Thomas Alva Edison eo:Edisono eu:Thomas Alva Edison fa:توماس ادیسون fr:Thomas Alva Edison gl:Thomas Alva Edison hr:Thomas Alva Edison id:Thomas Alva Edison is:Thomas Alva Edison it:Thomas Alva Edison he:תומאס אלווה אדיסון ka:ედისონი, თომას ალვა la:Thomas Edison lv:Tomass Edisons lt:Tomas Edisonas hu:Thomas Alva Edison mk:Томас Алва Едисон mr:थॉमस अल्वा एडिसन ms:Thomas Edison nl:Thomas Edison ja:トーマス・エジソン no:Thomas Edison nn:Thomas Edison pl:Thomas Alva Edison pt:Thomas Edison ro:Thomas Alva Edison ru:Эдисон, Томас Алва sco:Thomas Edison sq:Thomas Alva Edison sh:Tomas Alva Edison scn:Thomas Alva Edison simple:Thomas Alva Edison sk:Thomas Edison sl:Thomas Alva Edison sr:Томас Алва Едисон fi:Thomas Alva Edison sv:Thomas Edison ta:தொமஸ் அல்வா எடிசன் th:โทมัส เอดิสัน tr:Thomas Alva Edison uk:Едісон Томас vi:Thomas Alva Edison zh:托马斯·爱迪生

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

Retrieved from https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Thomas_Edison&oldid=39603

Content is available under Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details.
Copyright Logo
Powered by MediaWiki