Thomas Alva Edison

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Thomas Alva Edison is my hero. He worked hard and never gave up. He said, “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.” This is also my motto right now. He was a great inventor. I really adore him because most of the things he invented are still useful today. However, the most important thing I have learned from him is to look at problems in different ways. This has really helped me a lot in math and science. For these three reasons, Thomas Alva Edison is my hero.

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First of all, Thomas Alva Edison was a person who worked hard and never gave up. In his life he had approximately 1,300 inventions officially registered in the Patent Office. The year 1881 was the record for his inventions as he applied for and registered 141 inventions. He averaged a new invention every three days. Inventing a new thing every three days for a whole year is amazing. He worked really hard. For example, when he wanted to find something to be a filament which could stand heat for more than 1,000 hours at 2,000 degrees, he tested 7,600 different things and wrote more than 200 books for a total of 4,000 pages about the filament. After that, Edison began to invent alkaline batteries. With great difficulty, he and his assistants did about 50,000 tests and filled more than 150 notebooks. They finally achieved their goal. These three short stories have taught me a useful lesson, which is if that I work hard and never give up, I will get what I want in the end.

Secondly, Thomas Alva Edison was a great inventor. He invented hundreds of things. When I am sitting under a light at night, I need to thank Thomas Alva Edison, because the light bulb is his invention. When I am watching a movie and really enjoy it, I need to thank Thomas Alva Edison, because film is his invention. When I am living in a safe house, I need to thank Thomas Alva Edison, because cement is his invention. I really adore Thomas Alva Edison because he invented a lot of things which have made our life more convenient and comfortable.

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Finally, Thomas Alva Edison had different ways to look at things. He only studied in school for three months, but he was really good at thinking. He always asked strange questions and for this reason his teacher didn’t like him. However, this shows his curiosity which helped him to invent more things. When he wanted to know the volume of the light bulb, his assistant measured and calculated for a long time, but since the light bulb looked like a peach, it was hard to calculate the volume. Edison got the volume in one minute. He poured water into the light bulb and measured the volume of water. This was the same as the light’s volume. Also, when Edison used a short needle to test the membrane on the phone; he found when the membrane was vibrating the needle was also vibrating. He thought, “If I let the needle vibrate, will the membrane vibrate too?” With this idea the first gramophone was invented. In these three instances, I think I really learned an important way of thinking. Never limit oneself to the existing framework, but jump out and use another way to solve a problem. This helps me to do my math and science homework a lot. When I change the way I think, I can sometimes find a better method.

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These are the three reasons why Thomas Alva Edison is my hero. His hard work ethic and never-give-up attitude have taught me that “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.” His inventions have changed my life to be more comfortable and convenient. His different ways to look at things inspire me to look for a better way to solve math and science problems. Thomas Alva Edison has affected me a lot. He is my hero!