Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He made many useful devices that changed everyday life.

Edison grew up in the American Midwest and started his career as a telegraph operator. This job made him very interested in inventing things.

In 1876, he opened his first laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. Here, he and his team built many of his early inventions. He became wealthy from his successful businesses and used that money to keep inventing.

Edison was known for using science and working with others. He brought together many researchers and employees. He created the first industrial research laboratory and worked in many areas, from mining to film making. When he passed away, he had been granted 1,093 US patents, making him one of the most prolific inventors in history.

Some of his most famous inventions include the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and early versions of the electric light bulb. These creations had a big impact on the modern industrialized world.

He developed devices in fields such as electric power generation and sound recording.

Early life

Thomas Edison was born in 1847 in Milan, Ohio. He grew up in Port Huron, Michigan. He was very curious and loved to learn new things. He mostly read on his own. His mother taught him to read, write, and do math. She also gave him a book about science that made him interested in electricity.

Edison began to lose his hearing when he was 12. He eventually could not hear at all in one ear. Even so, he kept inventing and creating things. His first job was selling newspapers and candy on trains. On the trains, he also started his own small newspaper called the Grand Trunk Herald. Later, he worked as a telegraph operator. He kept doing experiments with electricity during all this time.

Telegraphy

From 1863 to 1869, Thomas Edison worked night shifts as a telegraph operator in several places, including Ontario, Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, and Massachusetts. During this time, he worked for Western Union and even wrote for the Associated Press news wire. Edison was known for being very clever and always trying new ideas.

In Boston, Edison invented a stock ticker and got his first patent for an electric vote recorder in 1869. Later, he moved to New York City where he worked with a friend, Franklin Leonard Pope, and started his own company. Together, they made machines that helped improve telegraphs and even started a factory. Edison loved experimenting and spent a lot of time working on new ideas with a friend named Charles Batchelor.

Menlo Park laboratory

Edison’s Menlo Park lab was built in 1876 in Menlo Park, New Jersey. It was the first lab focused on creating and applying new knowledge. It started with money from selling his quadruplex telegraph and grew to cover two city blocks. Edison collected many materials to help with inventions, including thousands of chemicals, screws, needles, and even animal parts.

One important invention from this lab was the phonograph in 1877. It could record and play back sound, which amazed people and made Edison famous. He showed it to scientists and worked hard to improve it. Later, his company made phonographs for home use, selling them with many different music records. Another invention was a device called the tasimeter that could measure heat, especially from the sun during a solar eclipse.

Electric light

Further information: Incandescent light bulb

In 1878, Thomas Edison started working on electric lighting. He wanted to make a light bulb that could last long and be used in homes and businesses. Before Edison, some inventors made light bulbs, but they did not last long and used too much electricity.

Edison tested many materials for the tiny wire inside the bulb, called the filament. He found that bamboo worked best. He also worked to create a system to provide electricity. He formed companies and worked with investors to share his ideas. On November 4, 1879, Edison got a patent for his electric lamp. Soon after, people could see his “Village of Light” in Menlo Park. By 1882, Edison had electric lighting for customers in Manhattan, showing how his invention could change daily life.

Mining

In the late 1870s, Thomas Edison wanted to find ways to mine because it was hard to find good iron ore on the east coast of the United States. He tried to mine lower quality ore and beach sand instead. Edison made a company to take iron out of sand, but it did not work well and he closed it after three years.

Later, Edison bought several mines and built a new mining operation. He used machines to break rocks and take out the iron, trying to make the work easier. Even though he worked hard, the mine lost money. Edison also tried mining in Canada but stopped after a few years.

Cement

Even though his mining business did not do well, Edison used some of the materials to make Portland cement. He made a better way to heat the limestone used in cement, which saved coal and work. Edison also invented a cooling system for the machines in the dusty factory. He tried to use his cement to build cheap houses but decided not to continue that plan.

West Orange

Moving the works

In 1886, Edison's workers asked for better pay and the right to form a union. Edison did not agree, so he moved his factories to Schenectady, New York. Later that year, he built a much larger laboratory in West Orange. It was over ten times bigger than his old lab.

Edison also worked on new technologies, like X-rays and better batteries. He learned about X-rays in 1896 and tried to improve them, but stopped after some health issues. He also developed a new type of rechargeable battery for electric cars, but by the time it was ready, most cars used gasoline.

Fluoroscopy

After learning about X-rays in 1896, Edison tried to create a better X-ray system. He found that images looked clearer on special screens and shared this idea with other scientists. However, during his experiments, some of his helpers got very sick, and Edison stopped working on X-rays.

Rechargeable battery

In the late 1890s, Edison began working on a new kind of battery that could be recharged. He wanted to make batteries for electric cars, which at the time used heavy and inefficient lead acid batteries. After testing many different materials, Edison created a nickel-iron battery. Although he got patents for this battery and started a company to make them, it wasn’t very successful because most cars had already switched to gasoline by the time his battery was ready.

Motion pictures

Thomas Edison worked with William Kennedy Laurie Dickson to create a motion picture camera called the Kinetograph. It was patented in 1897. Dickson handled the optical and film parts, while Edison focused on the mechanical parts.

They also made a device called the Kinetoscope. People could use it to watch short films. These films were first shown to the public on May 20, 1891.

Edison wanted to make a device that could record and play back both pictures and sound, called a kinetophonograph. But keeping the sound and pictures together was very hard, so this idea was paused for a time.

Edison's film studio made almost 1,200 short films with many different scenes and stories. As the film industry grew, Edison helped start the Motion Picture Patents Company in 1908 to protect film copyrights.

National security

Because of World War I, Edison thought it would be good to create a group of scientists and business leaders to help the U.S. military. He led the Naval Consulting Board in 1915, though he could not attend many meetings because he was deaf. The board’s main task was to choose a good place to do research for the navy. Edison preferred a location far from Washington DC to avoid too many government workers, but others on the board had different ideas. So, Edison instead focused on creating new military technology.

Edison looked for ways to make rubber in the United States, since back then the U.S. needed to get rubber from other countries. After testing many plants, he found that a type of Goldenrod could make enough latex for rubber. He also helped make important chemicals like phenol and benzene during the war. These were needed for many products and explosives. His work helped the U.S. make these materials without relying on other countries.

Final years

Henry Ford, the car maker, lived near Edison and they were friends. They went on camping trips in Ford cars from 1914 to 1924. They had Harvey Firestone and naturalist John Burroughs with them. These trips helped show off Ford cars, Firestone tires, and Edison's work.

In 1926, when Edison was 79 years old, he stopped leading his company. But he stayed busy with business until the end. Just before he passed, he was there for the first ride of an electric train from Hoboken to some towns. He believed in this idea and was there even though he wasn't feeling well.

Edison passed away on October 18, 1931. A test tube with his last breath is kept at The Henry Ford museum. It reminds us of his love for science and his friendship with Ford. A plaster death mask and casts of his hands were also made.

Domestic life

Thomas Edison married Mary Stilwell in 1871. They had three children together. Edison spent most of his time working in his laboratory. Sadly, Mary passed away in 1884.

In 1886, Edison married Mina Miller. They also had three children. Edison was often very busy with his work. Mina took care of the home and family. They lived in several places, including a winter home in Fort Myers, Florida, and a house in West Orange, New Jersey.

Views

Thomas Edison had strong opinions about religion and politics. He was influenced by the writer Thomas Paine and believed in a "Supreme Intelligence" instead of a traditional religious god. Edison thought nature, not gods, shaped the world.

Edison was a lifelong Republican but briefly supported Theodore Roosevelt. He met many U.S. presidents, including Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover. Edison supported women's suffrage and employed women in his factories. He was committed to nonviolence and refused to invent weapons.

Awards

Thomas Edison received many awards for his inventions. He was given an honorary PhD from Union College in 1878. In 1881, he became an Officer of the Legion of Honour. In 1928, he received the Congressional Gold Medal. He also won the John Scott Medal, the Franklin Medal from The Franklin Institute, and the John Fritz Medal.