The activities of the American inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Edison were distinguished by their versatility and practical orientation. He has over a thousand inventions on his account. The main developments of Edison were somehow connected with electrical engineering. He perfected the incandescent light bulb, the telegraph and the telephone, and also organized the world's first public power plant.
From the biography of Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11, 1847 in the US state of Ohio. He was the seventh child in the family of a successful businessman: the father of the future inventor traded in roofing materials. But later the business went wrong: when Thomas was seven years old, his father went bankrupt. The Edison family moved to Michigan, where they led a rather modest life.
Thomas was passionate about studying in elementary school. But he was unable to adapt to the school environment that was alien to him. Once the teacher spoke rudely about the boy, after which Thomas left school. Further education Edison received at home: his mother was a former school teacher.
At the age of ten, Edison showed an interest in chemistry and even set up his own laboratory in the basement of the house. The experiments required funds. And Thomas begins to make money selling candy and newspapers on the train. Edison also had a small mobile laboratory at his disposal, equipped in a baggage car. And at the age of 15, Thomas got hold of a printing press for the occasion and began to publish a small newspaper, which he sold to the same passengers.
Subsequently, Edison perfectly mastered the telegraph business and even served as a telegraph operator for about five years. Around the same years, Thomas became acquainted with the essay of Faraday, which spoke about the experimental study of electricity. The young man had thoughts about invention.
Edison - inventor
Edison's first invention was a device for counting votes in elections. There were no buyers for the patent: the author of the invention did not take into account all the features of the organization of elections in a bourgeois state, where intrigues and falsifications were in the order of things. After this failure, Edison gave himself a vow: to engage only in those inventions that can bring guaranteed practical returns and commercial benefits.
In 1870, Edison received a large award for the development of the apparatus for transmitting stock quotes. For the inventor, the sum of 40 thousand dollars was real wealth. Edison spent these funds on organizing the workshop. Three years later, Thomas developed his own version of the duplex telegraphy system.
In 1876, Edison moved to New Jersey, to the town of Menlo Park. Here the inventor founded the world's first research and production complex. The enterprise was staffed with experienced employees and manufactured products for commercial purposes. This laboratory, which has turned into a kind of conveyor of technical innovations, is rightly considered the most powerful invention of Edison.
After organizing a laboratory equipped with the latest technology, Edison launched a colossal work. Among his inventions: a phonograph, a voice recorder, a prototype of a filming camera, different types of batteries, an industrial electric lighting system. Edison, together with his employees, brought a telephone and an incandescent lamp to perfection and practical application. He discovered the phenomenon of thermionic emission, which has found application in a vacuum diode.
Personal life and character of Edison
During his life, Edison was married twice. He had three children in each marriage. In his youth, the inventor began to develop deafness, which progressed throughout his life. But he turned this disadvantage to his advantage: Edison said with a smile that deafness helps him focus on business and not be distracted by unnecessary interference.
Edison had an unusually beautiful, even and legible handwriting. From the very beginning of his inventive activity, he made it a rule to keep detailed records of all his work and experiments.
In his work, Thomas was distinguished by rare diligence, perseverance and the ability to bring any business to its logical conclusion. Once he sat for two days without a break, conducting experiments to find a suitable material for an incandescent lamp. For most of his life, the inventor worked in the extreme mode, 18-19 hours a day. Often he took a rest right at the workplace, after which he returned to work.
