Thomas Edison's Accomplishments

The scientist that I have chosen that has contributed to American ingenuity is Thomas Edison. Thomas Alva Edison has been one of the most revered inventors of the 19th century. Thomas Edison has been known to be an inventor and entrepreneur. Most of Thomas Edison success involved electricity or communication. From his laboratories and workshops, he created the phonograph, carbon-button transmitter for the telephone speakers and microphone, the incandescent lamp, a generator, the first commercial electric light and power system. Thomas Edison was just not an inventor he was also an entrepreneur where he had patented close to 900 patents, which ranged from electric light and power of 389, 150 for telegraph, 195 for phonograph, 141 for storage

A lot of people know of Samuel Adams, but do they know anything about him other than that he’s one of our founding fathers? Samuel Adams was one of many of our founding fathers. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was married to one Elizabeth Checkley from 1749 to 1757. He also worked as multiple things like a politician, a brewer, a revolutionary, and tax collector.

I believe Edison was edified and Tesla was nearly forgotten due to the fact Edison was a better businessman. In the article The Rise & Fall of Nikola Tesla & his Tower, it clearly expresses that Tesla lacked the business knowledge that Edison and other men in his field did. “But what [Tesla’s] contemporaries may have been lacking in scientific talent, men like Edison and George Westinghouse clearly possessed the one trait that Tesla did not -- a mind for business” (King, pg. 1). Edison’s superior knack for business left a long standing impression on American culture, history, and its memory which Tesla could not do.

Thomas Alva Edison was born on February, 11 1847. He was born in Milan, Ohio to Samuel Edison Jr. and Nancy Elliott Edison and they together had seven siblings and he was the youngest of the family. Only four of his siblings including him survived to adulthood. Thomas received little formal education. He quit school in 1859 and began working for the railroad which was between Detroit and Port Huron, Michigan which is where his parents moved with him when he went to work.

I have always thought that Thomas Edison was a brilliant man because for goodness sakes (!), he invented the 'basic' lightbulb. However, after reading the lecture notes, I discovered a list of many more things that he invented! An automated telegraph system, an office copying machine, a record player, motion pictures, and many more things were among his inventions! The fact that he was pulled out of school when he was very young, and how he still went on to create these inventions that change life as we know it, goes to show how capable he was and how God blessed him with his abilities!

Thomas Edison impacted technology as we know it today. He invented a variety of devices that influenced people around the world. In 1891 the Edison Company invented the Kinetoscope and the kinetophone. The Kinetoscope allowed one person at a time to view moving pictures. The person would use this device to look though a peep-hole while listening to the phonograph which connected to the kinetophone.

Have you ever been to a really scary horror movie, you know the kind that has you jumping out of your skin at any strange sound? Once you get home don’t you race up to your bedroom and turn on all the lights there and in the bathroom then you let out a sigh of relief. At this point you can take a shower and get ready for bed. When you’re ready to go to sleep you turn off your lights and reach up to turn on your rather cool Star Wars night light that dimly lights up your room and one in your bathroom so it’s lit too. Now nothing can surprise you and things don’t look so scary when there is light. Well you can thank Thomas Edison for both of these inventions. He invented the first kind of moving picture as in movies and he is also known as the person who created the light bulb. Personally I can’t imagine a life using just candles or no movies whatsoever and I imagine you can’t either. Thomas Edison grew up on a farm, but he later moved to cities where he invented all matter of things. Some of his biggest inventions he made became successful and some are still used to this day…. like the movies and the light bulb.

Thomas Edison accomplished many things in his life. I think the most important achievement is inventing the light bulb. Thomas invented this at around 1878 to 1880, but he was not the only one. Hiram Maxim and Joseph Swan was helping him to make a good light bulb. The first try on making the light bulb has failed. The famous inventor tested about 3000 designs. One of them lasted 40 hours, and one lasted 225 hours.

Despite Thomas Edison’s tremendous work as an inventors and entrepreneur, who established the model for industrial innovation, Edison had his dark side. He was involved in the “war of current” with George Westinghouse, over the AC and DC currents. Edison set out to destroy Westinghouse, by electrocuting a dog, calves, horses, Topsy a circus elephant and was also involved in the electrocution of a murderer, William Kemmler.

“Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up” (Edison). Proven by his 1,093 patents, Edison was a person who never gave up which ultimately resulted in his success. Edison got his start as a traveling telegrapher who had hearing problems; this was his motivation for taking action to make typical human functions possible for him. Inventing devices for his benefit led him to realize he wanted to invent full time (Thomas Edison). Through brilliance and innovation, Thomas Edison sparked the change from what life was like in early America to what life is now by creation and improvement.

Had Edison not experienced failures in his lifetime as an inventor he might have not become one of the most extraordinary inventors of the century. Failures, like all things, are meant to encourage a problem-like solving mentality as Edison reports, “I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.” This particular mentality allows Edison to successfully create the electric light bulb regardless of the numerous accounts of failures he underwent in the developmental process. Even with the threat of failure looming above him like a dark thundercloud ready to unleash its mighty rage he

This is Thomas Edison. Thomas Edison is a famous inventor who invented lots of things that we use today. He was born a very long time ago in the United States of America.

Thomas Alva Edison was an unconventional genius that played a vital role in shaping the modern world with his inventions, but didn’t accomplish this role easily. Edison led an inquisitive life encompassing his disruptive adolescence, unconventional methods of success, and exceptional ability to endure failure. Although his inventions and ideologies exemplified him, Thomas Edison overcame tremendous obstacles throughout his lifetime before achieving his anticipated goals.

I decided to do my report on Thomas Alva Edison because he brought a lot of things into our world. He invented the light bulb, the alkaline battery, the phonograph, and many other things. Many of our modern electronics origins came from Thomas A. Edison. I thought he was very interesting. That is why I chose him.

Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, on February 11, 1847. He was the youngest of seven children. His mother was Nancy Matthews Elliott and his father was Samuel Edison Jr. Edison has gone to school for a very short time, only twelve weeks. He was hyperactive when he was a child and his teachers had problems teaching him. So, instead of going to school, his mother taught him, who was a teacher. Edison also had an ear infection at a young age which led to some hearing loss.