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Thomas Edison (Feb. 11th. 1847 - Oct.18th. 1931)
His hearing was very poor but a chance heroic act brought him the offer of a very suitable job (he saved an infant from being run over by a train and the child's father offered Edison a job as a telegraph operator). His deafness may have been a blessing for this occupation as it enabled him more easily to ignore the distracting noises around him at work. Much of his free time was spent reading scientific text books. In 1869 Edison moved to New York City where he worked on inventions related to telegraphy. At 21 years of age he patented his electric vote recorder (his first patent). This invention was intended to speed the voting process in elections - but the device was a commercial flop. Edison learned an important lesson from this failure - he determined to produce only those things for which he was convinced there would be a public demand. His first commercial success was the "Universal Stock Printer", for which Edison was paid $40,000. This money was used to set up a laboratory in Newark, New Jersey in 1871. For the following five years, Edison created devices that made the telegraph faster and more efficient. He moved from Newark to Menlo Park in 1876. Here, twenty-five miles from New York City, he established a research and development laboratory complete with all manner of equipment - Menlo Park is sometimes referred to as Edison's greatest invention. Work at Menlo Park produced the tin foil phonograph - a sensational new machine to record and replay sounds. This was the first invention to bring Edison to international attention and he went on to create the entire phonographic industry (which proved hugely lucrative). Although Thomas Edison didn't actually "invent" the light bulb, he did develop a fifty year old idea to produce an economic incandescent bulb. More importantly, he invented a complete electrical system that could reliably supply electricity safely for use in home and industry. This is what allowed electric lighting to become a viable alternative to the then ubiquitous gas lights. The Menlo Park laboratory complex was illuminated by incandescent electric lights in December 1879, as a public demonstration of Edison's electric lighting system. In 1891 Edison demonstrated moving pictures and produced his first commercial movies just two years later, having developed equipment to create and display films. Edison's initial work was improved upon by others within a few years and the movie industry became so competitive that Edison got out of the movie business all together in 1918. Edison's most profitable product was the storage battery - the fore-runner of the modern alkaline battery. Edison owned gasoline powered, steam powered and electric powered motor cars – but expected the electric car to prove most successful long term – he may yet be proved right! Orison Swett Marden interviewed Thomas Edison on several occasions, and made Edison the subject of many inspirational articles and chapters in his books. In “Little Visits with Great Americans”, published in 1905, Edison is given pride of place as the subject of the first chapter, entitled “Hard Work, The Secret of a Great Inventor’s Genius”. Take a look at what Marden has to say about Edison and other high achievers at the turn of the Twentieth Century in Marden’s Keys to Success.
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