Thomas Alva Edison

Louis Bachrach, Bachrach Studios, restored by Michel Vuijlsteke / Public domainhttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Edison2.jpg  My hero is Thomas Alva Edison. He was one of the greatest inventors in the world. He invented light bulbs, the phonograph, the kinetoscope, and so on. He lived in America, and he lived in 1847-1931. In his life, he was devoted to inventing things that could make humans' life more convenient. Without his efforts, we could not use a lot of convenient things now.

  Thomas Alva Edison was born in 1847, in Ohio. When he was a little boy, he liked to ask "Why?" very much, and he liked to learn by himself, too. He asked a lot of questions. His teacher considered that he was not smart, so he just went to school for three months. Then, his mother taught him at home. When he was 12, he sold the newspapers and candy. Although he worked at that time, he was also interested in science and made experiments by himself. In 1876, he set up an industrial research laboratory and worked with his partners. Edison wanted to invent light bulbs in order to improve people’s lives. He tried many materials to make the light bulbs, but all of them didn't work. Once, his friend came to visit him. He looked at his friend’s beard; suddenly he said “Sir, I want to use your beard.” He put the beard into the light bulb. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, either. When his friend went out of the room, he pulled his friend’s cotton coat, and then he got a new idea—using the cotton thread. The cotton thread light bulb lighted for 45 hours! But he tried to use other materials to make the light bulb better. Eventually, he found bamboo silk could light for 1200 hours. After he tried and tried again, he finally succeeded in the light bulbs invention in 1879.

  Thomas Alva Edison invented a lot of things during his life time, like light bulbs, the phonograph, and the kinetoscope. He brought many benefits to our life. From his life, I learn we should work hard and never give up easily. In my eyes, he is also the greatest inventor in the world.