Wizard of Menlo Park: That Guy Named Alva

Know what? Thomas Edison was afraid of the dark!
(Thus, the lightbulb?)

Born:February 11, 1847
Father: Samuel Edison
Mother: Nancy Edison
Marriage and children: On December 25, 1871, he married Mary Stilwell. They had three children:

• Marion Estelle "Dot" Edison
• Thomas Alva "Dash" Edison, Jr.
• William Leslie Edison

Mary Stilwell died on August 9, 1884.
On February 24, 1886, Edison married Mina Miller. They also had three children:

• Madeleine Edison
• Charles Edison
• Theodore Edison

Thomas Alva Edison, Al by his family, was a very curious child. Some would think he's quite mischievous. He would ask a lot of questions and would experiment to find the answers. He once tried to hatch some eggs by sitting on them. Another time, he wanted to see his friend fly by feeding him some gas-producing laxative. At age six, he set the family barn on fire "just to see what it would do." After the incident, Edison's father spanked him in front of the whole town to show everyone that he was really sorry. His family were also afraid that maybe he had no feelings. A friend of his drowned in a creek and he showed no emotion.

Edison's teachers thought that he could not learn because there was something wrong with him; that he was "addled". They told his mother, who became furious with what they said. She decided to teach him by herself. Edison went to school only for three months in his entire life but nevertheless, he became an avid reader. He read the History of England, History of the World, The Age of Reason and the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. After reading the Dictionary of Science (the book which his mother bought for him), he set up a laboratory in their family basement and spent all of his allowance buying chemicals at a drug store. He was ten years old at that time.

At age 12, when his mother could no longer stand the smell of his 'lil experiments, he took a job as a train boy on the Grand Trunk Railway by selling candies and newspapers that he made (he called it the Grand Trunk Herald) to make money for his experiments. There, he established hi new lab in an empty baggage car. A lot of complaints were received by Edison because of the foul smelling experiments he made and the explosions happened while conjuring up these experiments.

When he was 13, he started slowly to become deaf. A man pulled him up by his ears when he was running behind a train, trying to catch a ride.

At 15, Edison saved the life of an official's child. He saw the boy on the track with the train heading right for him. He grab the child and put him on a safe place. For his bravery, the boy's father taught Edison how to use the telegraph. Then at 16, he went to work at the Boston Telegraph Service. He stayed there for five years and then was fired from his job because he became bored and started playing jokes on his boss. On May 1, 1869, Edison received a patent for his vote recording machine. No one wanted it.

He went to New York at age 22 with only a dollar in his pocket. He hunted for a job at day and slept in the basement of a company at night. Edison observed his surroundings very closely. He observed how the machinery works every night. Because of this, he was able to fix some broken equipment. He improved a device that would control errors in stock tickers and the company liked it that he was offered $40,000. When he brought his check to the bank, the teller yelled at him because he could not hear. An engineer, who worked at the company where Edison was fixing gadgets, notified him to the teller. Edison got his money which he spent all of it on shop equipment.
















He started the American Telegraph Works in New Jersey. Edison built a laboratory there in Menlo Park. He was known as the Wizard of Menlo Park. He directed his team to work on various projects. Together, they worked to make a lightbulb which would go on for a long time. They tried a lot of materials but not one was working well. They finally tried a new material and it did work. The lightbulb went on nearly 200 hours. After making it, he made a power system, so that people could use it too. In 1882, in Pearl Street, New York City, people there had electric lights for the first time.

While working on the bulb, Edison noticed an electric flow from the filament to the metal wire. The phenomenon was the foundation of Electronics.

Edison was probably one of the most outstanding inventors in history. He also invented the Phonograph, which he is most proud of. Other invention of his includes the celluloid film and film projector (movies!), the quadruplex, automatic telegraphs and a lot more. His greatest contribution to mankind was the development of power stations. Still, he's famous for his lightbulb (fear of the dark, perhaps?) When he died in the year 1931,he patented over 1,050
inventions.

Quotes from Edison
( I've done a 'lil research! Very...inspiring! Ame Mami is inspired!)

• Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
• I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world.
• The three things that are most essential to achievement are common sense, hard work and stick-to-it-iv-ness.
• I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others. I found out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent.
• Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety nine percent perspiration.
• I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun.
• Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do, doesn't mean it's useless.
• To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
• We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything.
• I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
• We now know a thousand ways not to build a lightbulb.
• I am proud of the fact that I never invented weapons to kill.
• I know this world is ruled by infinite intelligence. Everything that surrounds us- everything that exist- proves that there are infinite laws behind it.
• The best thinking has been done in solitude. The worst has been done in turmoil.
• The value of an idea lies in the using of it.
• There's no substitute for hard work.
• There's a way to do it better- find it.
• To have a great idea, have a lot of them.

There, goes my research. Didn't copy. But did a lot of paraphrasing.

Hope you enjoy!

References:

• Padua, A., and Crisostomo, R. 2003. Practical and Explorational Physics Modular Approach. Quezon City: Vibal Publishing House, Inc.
• www.incwell.com/Biographies/Edison.html
• www.mccsc.edu
• gardenofpraise.com/ibdediso.htm
• equotes.wetpaint.com/page/Thomas+Edison+Quotes
• www.inspirationalquotes4u.com/edisonquotes/index.html

Photo Credits:

• (young Edison and Edison with invention) gardenofpraise.com/ibdediso.htm
• (old Edison with lightbulb-right) www.solumhouse.com/electricity
• (old Edison-left) pre1900prints.com/Science/EdisonWizardOfMenloPak.html