Thomas Alva Edison

Some of Edison's ideas include the light bulb, phonograph and the motion-picture projector. Even though inventors before Edison attempted to make a light bulb, he succeeded, "he managed to think outside of the box of making this invention work by creating an infrastructure to support electricity." This invention stood for a safe and inexpensive replacement of the gaslight, which took about five years to work. "In the summer of 1877 he was trying to come up with a machine that would transcribe the sound of a human voice as it came over the telephone."  This sentence from Catherine in Science and Its Time, proved that Thomas was figuring out ways to reduce the amount of time taken to send a message. Another one of his greatest inventions is the motion-picture projector. "Using a mobile studio and a photographic device he designed, Edison created the first apparatus for projecting motion pictures."  With this new technology, Edison slowly guided us in the direction of entertainment.

  The American inventor's passion for science drove him into pioneering inventions that changed the way people lived forever. Edison didn't just invent things to satisfy the needs by everyone, he also "laid the foundation for the modern electric world." By doing this, his inventions created multiple businesses including the light bulb. If people wanted to own a light source that lasted longer and could be reused over and over again, they'd have to "buy" electricity to power up light. Another example would be the phonograph. The amount of time taken to call someone is more convenient than riding a horse for several days just to communicate or send  a message. The motion-picture projector  "set the stage for the creation of the motion picture industry." It served a  purpose of entertainment.

Not all heroes start out strong and wealthy. Edison moved out to  New York City in the June of 1869. He was desperately poor and was searching for a job. After several inventions that include the Edison Universal Stock Printer, he produced about $40,000 that he needed to make himself up as a manufacturer in Newark, New Jersey.  On September 4, 1882, Edison operated the first power station on Pearl Street in New York City. This project took him about three years to accomplish. Even though Thomas Edison was born and raised in a family of 8, with scarcely to eat, he still became a successful man. When some of his inventions didn't go the way he wanted it to be, he didn't give up trying to figure out what parts didn't function well with others. He kept on improving his inventions by constantly going back and forth, fixing his mistakes.

Works Cited

Crisera, Catherine M. "Thomas Alva Edison." Science and Its Times. Ed. Neil Schlager and Josh Lauer. Vol. 5: 1800 to 1899. Detroit: Gale, 2000. 584-585. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.

"Edison Demonstrates the First Practical Incandescent Lamp, October 21, 1879."DISCovering U.S. History. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resources in Context. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.

"Thomas Alva Edison." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. Ed. Thomas Carson and Mary Bonk. Detroit: Gale, 1999. Biography in Context. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.

"Thomas Alva Edison." Scientists: Their Lives and Works. Gale, 2006. Biography in Context. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.

O'Neill, Mary. "Edison, King Of Creating, Electrified The World Spark: He boosted the telegraph, phonograph, light bulb." Investor's Business Daily 21 Aug. 2013: A3. Student Resources in Context. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.