One of the most influential scientists of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries was Thomas Edison, who died in October of 1931 at the age of 84. While many of his inventions we probably take for granted today, there is no doubt his work improved the general welfare of generations since and will benefit generations to come.
Born in Ohio in 1847, early in his life he worked as a telegraph operator which fueled his curiosity and inspired some of his early inventions. In 1876 he established his first laboratory. In fact, he was one of the first to implement a laboratory with many other inventors and scientists dedicated to research. He later established other laboratories across the country dedicated to specific fields of research. With 1,093 US patents, he is regarded as the most prolific inventor in American history.
Edison, as a child, was mostly taught by his mother who was a teacher. He did not attend school regularly, but instead was largely self-taught. He was extremely curious and learned by reading and conducting his own experiments, even as a child. To earn some income, Edison was a “news butcher”, selling newspapers and other assorted items on a train. He invested his $50 a week by buying equipment for electrical and chemical experiments. He then was taught to be a telegraph operator. With an exclusive right to sell newspapers on the road, he was the founder of the Grand Trunk Herald, which he sold with other newspapers. It was during this period that he learned more about business and he realized he was pretty good at it too – all before his second decade of life.
Edison’s first patent was for an electronic voting machine in 1869 when he was just 22 years old. But his first major innovation was the establishment of an industrial research lab in New Jerson in 1876. It was here that he invented the quadruplex telegraph, a type of electrical telegraph which allows a total of four separate signals to be transmitted and received on a single wire at the same time (two signals in each direction). He sold this technology to Western Union for about $300,000 in today’s dollars, about twice what he expected. This influx of funding resulted in his Menlo Park, NJ as being the first laboratory created with the purpose of producing constant technological innovation and improvement. Edison hired many scientists, including such luminaries and Nikola Tesla and Henry Ford, who helped produce these innovative products and complemented Edison with expertise where Edison’s was lacking. Edison’s goal was to have a “stock of almost every conceivable material” as sources for experiments.
Among Edisons contributions include the Phonograph, microphone, electric light, electric power distribution, the fluoroscope, tasimeter, a rechargable battery, and the “Kinetograph”, the first motion picture camera. Imagine the world today without his contributions!
Edison died on October 18, 1931 in West Orange, New Jersey.