The Wizard of Menlo Park

The Wizard of Menlo Park PDF Author: Randall E. Stross
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 1400047633
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 394

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Book Description
Thomas Edison’s greatest invention? His own fame. At the height of his fame Thomas Alva Edison was hailed as “the Napoleon of invention” and blazed in the public imagination as a virtual demigod. Starting with the first public demonstrations of the phonograph in 1878 and extending through the development of incandescent light and the first motion picture cameras, Edison’s name became emblematic of all the wonder and promise of the emerging age of technological marvels. But as Randall Stross makes clear in this critical biography of the man who is arguably the most globally famous of all Americans, Thomas Edison’s greatest invention may have been his own celebrity. Edison was certainly a technical genius, but Stross excavates the man from layers of myth-making and separates his true achievements from his almost equally colossal failures. How much credit should Edison receive for the various inventions that have popularly been attributed to him—and how many of them resulted from both the inspiration and the perspiration of his rivals and even his own assistants? This bold reassessment of Edison’s life and career answers this and many other important questions while telling the story of how he came upon his most famous inventions as a young man and spent the remainder of his long life trying to conjure similar success. We also meet his partners and competitors, presidents and entertainers, his close friend Henry Ford, the wives who competed with his work for his attention, and the children who tried to thrive in his shadow—all providing a fuller view of Edison’s life and times than has ever been offered before. The Wizard of Menlo Park reveals not only how Edison worked, but how he managed his own fame, becoming the first great celebrity of the modern age.

The Wizard of Menlo Park

The Wizard of Menlo Park PDF Author: Randall E. Stross
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 1400047633
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 394

Get Book Here

Book Description
Thomas Edison’s greatest invention? His own fame. At the height of his fame Thomas Alva Edison was hailed as “the Napoleon of invention” and blazed in the public imagination as a virtual demigod. Starting with the first public demonstrations of the phonograph in 1878 and extending through the development of incandescent light and the first motion picture cameras, Edison’s name became emblematic of all the wonder and promise of the emerging age of technological marvels. But as Randall Stross makes clear in this critical biography of the man who is arguably the most globally famous of all Americans, Thomas Edison’s greatest invention may have been his own celebrity. Edison was certainly a technical genius, but Stross excavates the man from layers of myth-making and separates his true achievements from his almost equally colossal failures. How much credit should Edison receive for the various inventions that have popularly been attributed to him—and how many of them resulted from both the inspiration and the perspiration of his rivals and even his own assistants? This bold reassessment of Edison’s life and career answers this and many other important questions while telling the story of how he came upon his most famous inventions as a young man and spent the remainder of his long life trying to conjure similar success. We also meet his partners and competitors, presidents and entertainers, his close friend Henry Ford, the wives who competed with his work for his attention, and the children who tried to thrive in his shadow—all providing a fuller view of Edison’s life and times than has ever been offered before. The Wizard of Menlo Park reveals not only how Edison worked, but how he managed his own fame, becoming the first great celebrity of the modern age.

The Papers of Thomas A. Edison

The Papers of Thomas A. Edison PDF Author: Thomas Alva Edison
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780801831027
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 727

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Book Description
The third volume of this widely acclaimed series reveals the breath-taking intensity, intellectual acumen, and vast self-confidence of twenty-nine-year-old Thomas Edison. In the depths of the 1870s depression, he moved his independent research and development laboratory from industrial Newark to pastoral Menlo Park, some fifteen miles to the south on the main line of the railroad from New York to Philadelphia. There, equipped with resources for experimental development that were extraordinary for their time, Edison and a few close associates began twenty months of research that expanded their well-established accomplishments in telegraphy into pioneering work on the telephone. Edison's ideas and techniques from telegraph message recording and the telephone next led to his invention of the phonograph, the first patent for which was filed in December 1877. This invention ultimately gave Edison a world-wide reputation--and the nickname "the wizard of Menlo Park."

Edison's Electric Light

Edison's Electric Light PDF Author: Robert Friedel
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 0801899443
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
In September 1878, Thomas Alva Edison brashly—and prematurely—proclaimed his breakthrough invention of a workable electric light. That announcement was followed by many months of intense experimentation that led to the successful completion of his Pearl Street station four years later. Edison was not alone—nor was he first—in developing an incandescent light bulb, but his was the most successful of all competing inventions. Drawing from the documents in the Edison archives, Robert Friedel and Paul Israel explain how this came to be. They explore the process of invention through the Menlo Park notes, discussing the full range of experiments, including the testing of a host of materials, the development of such crucial tools as the world's best vacuum pump, and the construction of the first large-scale electrical generators and power distribution systems. The result is a fascinating story of excitement, risk, and competition. Revised and updated from the original 1986 edition, this definitive study of the most famous invention of America's most famous inventor is completely keyed to the printed and electronic versions of the Edison Papers, inviting the reader to explore further the remarkable original sources.

Timeless Thomas

Timeless Thomas PDF Author: Gene Barretta
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company (BYR)
ISBN: 1466816848
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Book Description
What do record players, batteries, and movie cameras have in common? All these devices were created by the man known as The Wizard of Menlo Park: Thomas Edison. Edison is most famous for inventing the incandescent lightbulb, but at his landmark laboratories in Menlo Park & West Orange, New Jersey, he also developed many other staples of modern technology. Despite many failures, Edison persevered. And good for that, because it would be very difficult to go through a day without using one of his life-changing inventions. In this enlightening book, Gene Barretta enters the laboratories of one of America's most important inventors.

Wizard of Menlo Park - Thomas Edison

Wizard of Menlo Park - Thomas Edison PDF Author: Cynthia Parker
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781511692588
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A Short, Yet Interesting, Biography! Learn More About This Visionary Inventor, Industrialist, and Businessman! Ever wanted to learn more about Thomas Edison, but never felt you had the time to read a comprehensive work? Here author Cynthia A. Parker removes that pain by offering an opportunity to Get-to-Know the Wizard of Menlo Park to learn of his youth and upbringing, his early career, and of course his pivotal role as in inventor, industrialist, and businessman! Turn these pages and enjoy the opportunity to learn history, but better yet to come to know Edison better through Parker's amazing ability to describe his life, his eccentricities and above all, his accomplishments; making this an enjoyable and interesting Quick-Read Biography.

The Papers of Thomas A. Edison

The Papers of Thomas A. Edison PDF Author: Thomas A. Edison
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 976

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Book Description
This newest volume in the acclaimed Papers of Thomas A. Edison covers one year in the life of America's greatest inventor—1878. That year Edison, whom a New York newspaper in the spring first called "the Wizard of Menlo Park," developed the phonograph, one of his most famous inventions; made a breakthrough in the development of telephone transmitters, which made the instrument commercially viable; and announced the advent of domestic electric lighting, with only a few weeks' worth of tinkering necessary to complete its design (the announcement sent gas-company stocks plummeting; the research and development went on for four years). These inventions brought Edison financial support for his work and attention from the public. In January investors in the Edison Speaking Phonograph Company agreed to fund development work on the phonograph. The invention made Edison internationally famous and in May he traveled to Washington, D.C., to show the phonograph at the National Academy of Sciences, to Congress, and to President Rutherford B. Hayes at the White House. That same month Western Union agreed to pay Edison an annual salary of $6,000 for his telephone inventions, although other support from the company declined following the death of its president, William Orton. The stress of unceasing public attention, including a trans-Atlantic dispute over the question of who invented the microphone, led an exhausted Edison to travel west during the summer to witness a solar eclipse but also to seek rest. His six-week trip took him to San Francisco and the Yosemite region of California. Edison began working on electric lighting after his return and in October the Edison Electric Light Company was formed to support his research.

Thomas Edison: The Wizard of Menlo Park

Thomas Edison: The Wizard of Menlo Park PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Time Inc. New Media presents a biographical sketch of Thomas Edison, as part of the "LIFE" magazine Hall of Heroes. American inventor Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) patented over 1000 inventions, including the phonograph and the electric lamp.

The Story of Thomas Alva Edison, Inventor

The Story of Thomas Alva Edison, Inventor PDF Author: Margaret Davidson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electricity
Languages : en
Pages : 60

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Book Description
Easy to read story of the real-life adventures of Thomas Edison who went from newsboy to famous inventor.

Working at Inventing

Working at Inventing PDF Author: William S. Pretzer
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801868900
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 146

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Book Description
Working at Inventing offers a fascinating study of research and development at Thomas Edison's Menlo Park (New Jersey) laboratory during the six years between 1876 and 1882 that transformed American life. Edison and his associates developed ideas that led to more than four hundred patents and made major contributions to telegraphy, telephony, and the duplication of texts. They also made breakthrough innovations in two age-old human quests: conquering the darkness of night and preserving and replaying sound. In the process, Edison demonstrated how to combine technological innovation and business strategy. Afterward, research and development became essential corporate activities. Six experts on Edison's work deal in turn with the working conditions and the experiences at Menlo Park; the work culture of machinists and their impact on innovation; the role that telegraphy played in forming the lab's inventive activities; Edison's use of mental models in developing the telephone; the importance of visual communication in technology; and the significance of Menlo Park as a model of scientific and technological development. William Pretzer's introduction to the volume provides the context of Edison's career, while an epilogue explains the public interpretation of the Menlo Park laboratory as reconstructed by Henry Ford in his outdoor museum, Greenfield Village.

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison PDF Author: Maaz Alam
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
Read On Your Computer, MAC, Smartphone, Kindle Reader, iPad, or Tablet.Although Thomas Edison passed away many decades ago, his inventions continue to reverberate throughout history. It was Thomas Edison who brought all of these innovations into the world, whether you're watching TV, listening to music, or simply turning on the lamp next to your bed.Inside you will read about...✓ Edison's Early Life✓ The Electric Light✓ The War of the Currents✓ Other Inventions and Projects✓ Final Years and Death✓ Edison's LegacyAnd much more!Edison is sometimes regarded as someone who loved arguing with other inventors who were going in different directions from him, yet his tenacity and dedication to his own work were what made so many of his inventions workable.No matter which way you look at Edison, from failed businessman, renowned inventor, distant father to his children, or to an argumentative scientist, there is one thing everyone can agree on; Thomas Edison was pure genius. After all, in his world, nothing less would do.Inside you will read about...✓ Edison's Early Life✓ The Electric Light✓ The War of the Currents✓ Other Inventions and Projects✓ Final Years and Death✓ Edison's LegacyAnd much more!Edison is sometimes regarded as someone who loved arguing with other inventors who were going in different directions from him, yet his tenacity and dedication to his own work were what made so many of his inventions workable.No matter which way you look at Edison, from failed businessman, renowned inventor, distant father to his children, or to an argumentative scientist, there is one thing everyone can agree on; Thomas Edison was pure genius. After all, in his world, nothing less would do.