Thomas Alva Edison

Thomas Edison

My hero is Thomas Alva Edison. He is my hero for making our lives easier. He made it so we don’t have dangerous lights. He gave us the first step into motion pictures and the telephone plus the answering machine (the phonograph).

Edison's contributions were many. He made the first incandescent light bulb. It took a few years but when it was ready he made them hang from trees for a big announcement about it. He also had improved the telephone. Now the telephone could reach farther distances. The design made one end for talking and another for listening. Thomas owned lots of businesses, all to sell his inventions; he later made it one company.

Thomas was born hard of hearing and when someone helped him onto a train by his ears made it even harder to hear. On top of that he needed surgery on his ears, which made his being deaf worse. Throughout the book his wife was sick and Thomas was barely ever home. He also had a problem with money; rich as he was he still needed to beg for money from investors. Even after that he didn’t keep the lab clean.

An important thing Thomas showed was he never gave up. A quote Edison made was “I have not failed; I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work”. Edison faced many challenges and failures but that made him try harder. Thomas will always be remembered.