Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison

            Thomas Edison is known as a great American inventor who was born in 1847 in Ohio but grew up in Michigan, America. The life of Edison revolves around scientific inventions that have made him one of the most famous scientists. Edison is remembered for the more than a thousand inventions for the eighty-four years that he was at the science career. Edison’s inventions are said to have tremendously impacted the modern-day life with inventions such as the incandescent light bulb, the motion picture camera, the phonograph as well as improving the telephone. Also, the world’s first industrial laboratory is said to have been invented by Thomas Edison. Edison’s life did not only revolve around inventions; Edison was also a successful businessman and a manufacturer. Edison’s marketing skills played a critical role in marketing his inventions as well as promoting the several businesses that Edison did. The life of Edison can generally be viewed in terms of scientific inventions and business engagements.

Early Life

Thomas Edison was the seventh and a lastborn to the family of Samuel Jr. and Nancy Elliott and was born in November 1847. Out of the seven children in Edison’s family survived into adulthood and that includes Thomas Edison. The birth of Edison took place in Ohio, but he grew up in Michigan where he received little basic education (Culligan, 2018). The knowledge of scientific innovations by Edison can be said to have been motivated by the challenges that Edison faced as a child. The learning of technology by Edison, for example, was driven by the civil war. Edison traveled across the country working as a telegrapher. However, Edison developed hearing problems due to unknown causes had thus his job as a telegrapher was hit a big blow. Edison did not, however, give up but instead working on developing a telegraph that would suit his needs as a disabled telegrapher. The successful development of telegraphy that would meet the needs of Edison, however, gav him a better idea; Edison quitted telegraphy and decided to pursue a full-time career in inventions. Edison’s edeucation was event in the logisticsas smooth as one would assume. Edison was himself a genius, but that would only be known later in his career. At the initial stages of Edison’s academic life, Edison was sent away from school for poor performance. Edison’s mother though furious took Edison at home and decided to teach him instead of taking him to school. Edison got a job in 1859 as a newspaper and candy salesman. The role of a salesman gave a chance for Edison who used the car’s baggage area as a chemist for doing experiments. However, a fire tragedy occurred and forced Edison to stop doing experiments while on board. Edison’s wisdom made him utilize his hearing problems as an asset in that, Edison would easily concentrate on his invention dealings without disruptions.

Inventions by Edison

Thomas Edison is remembered for his several patents and innovations that have impacted modern life significantly. Edison is said to have been involved in the creation of a record more than one thousand patents and inventions in his entire life (Lippmann, 2017). The most famous inventions associated with Edison include the improved telegraph, improved phonograph and the light bulb, which was a significant turnaround in the energy conservation strategy. The inventions associated with Edison can all be associated with Edison wisdom in solving problems at first sight.

The improvement in telegraphy started with Edison’s act of kindness. Edison was courageous enough to rescue a three-year-old child from a track, and the child’s father decided to repay Edison by teaching him how to use a telegraph. After gaining knowledge on the use of the telegraph, Edison got a job at the western union office where he got an opportunity and resources to invent an electric vote recorder. However, the invention was not given the attention that Edison would have wanted he decided to only concentrate on inventions that people wanted (Edison et al.2015). The challenge to know what people wanted was not a minor one, and Edison had all the reasons and motivation to give it all in the invention career. Edison resigned from the western union offices in 1969 hoping that concentrating on inventions on a full-time basis would earn him a considerable fortune. However, the setbacks were many, and the fact that Edison’s first invention of the electric vote recorder was not successful in giving the required attention was a big blow. Edison decided to use his knowledge of telegraph to build a career. For several years, Edison did telegraph work across the country and used to work as an engineer where he repaired electronic devices and specifically the telegraph. Edison did several developments on the telegraph with the first development happening in 1870, where Edison established the American Telegraph Works to work on the development of an automatic telegraph machine. Later in 1874, Edison aided in the development of a telegraph machine that could send simultaneous messages to different directions.

Edison’s remarriage after the death of his first wife brought a new wake to life Edison. Edison’s second wife was active and was instrumental in supporting Edison’s engagements as well as controlling Edison’s irresponsible behaviors. Edison’s development of the phonology seemed unsuccessful in the first stages, and Edison had even decided to ignore the invention to give other inventors time to do their developments on the machine. However, Edison embarked on the mission again when he took back the invention rights and management of the American Phonograph Co. in 1984. Edison decided to start the National Phonograph Co. in 1896, and his main agenda was to make amusing home photographs. The improvements by Edison on the phonograph were continuous, and Edison was also involved in improving the cylinders to play on the phonographs. The initial phonograph cylinders were made of wax and Edison decided to introduce unbreakable cylinders in 1912. Edison was strategic in winning the market competition since he introduced the Edison disc to react to the popularity of discs that had grown on the market. Edison’s business always suffered setbacks due to the firm’s poor reputation with people accusing the company of making low-quality recording devices. When the radio was introduced, Edison’s business ceased.

The idea of a motion picture started as a two-person idea with Edison meeting Eadweard Muybridge at West Orange in 1888. Edison and Muybridge decided to work together to invent the machine that could create motion graphics from still pictures (Robbins, 2017). Edison and Muybridge’s relationship did not, however, last long since Edison decide to work alone in creating his moving camera. Edison would explain the idea of a moving idea as a motivation to create an object that would work for the eye the same way the phonograph worked for the ear. Also, Edison’s work to invent the moving camera was not an easy one. The first setback was the competition that was posed by Edison’s associate, Dickson who would later be fired for doing a parallel invention aimed at beating Edison’s work. Edison had to beat stiff competition from companies that were carrying out similar inventions on motion cameras. The hardest battle was Edison’s attempts to win patents so that he could peacefully move on with the invention process. Edison was forced to get involved in severe legal battles against strong companies. Edison’s involvement with the motion picture ended in 1918. Edison continued to be involved with inventions even in his later ages. Edison’s companies grew in structure and became more diversified. With the advancement in age, Edison minimized his direct contribution to the day-to-day operations although the decision-making process of the companies was left purely on Edison. The occurrence of the World War I was a major test for Edison’s inventions, and he was named the head of a naval operations team in 1915 as an attempt by the government to bring science into the defense system. Edison died in 1931 in New Jersey.

The life of Edison can be said to have revolved around scientific inventions that made him one of the most famous scientists. Edison is remembered for the more than a thousand patents for the eighty-four years that he was at the science career. Edison’s inventions are said to have tremendously impacted the modern-day life with inventions such as the incandescent light bulb, the motion picture camera, the phonograph as well as improving the telephone. The life of Edison can generally be viewed in terms of scientific inventions and business engagements.

References

Culligan, E. J. (2018). Guide to the Emmett J. Culligan collection.

Edison, T. A., Israel, P. B., Carlat, L., Collins, T. M., Rimer, A. R., & Weeks, D. J. (2015). The    Papers of Thomas A. Edison: New Beginnings, January 1885–December 1887. Johns Hopkins University Press.

Lippmann, W. (2017). Thomas A. Edison. In Public Persons (pp. 110-112). Routledge.

Robbins, D. L. (2017). War, Modernity, and Motion in the Edison Films of 1898. Journal of         Latin American Cultural Studies, 26(3), 351-375.