Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) was one of the greatest inventors and industrial leaders in history. His most famous contributions include practical electric lighting, the phonograph, and improvements to the telegraph, telephone, and motion pictures. Edison also created one of the first modern research laboratories. Some scientists and historians regard his development of the research lab as his greatest achievement.
Edison looked for many different solutions when attempting to solve problems. When he created new or improved devices, he made a variety of designs. Sometimes he borrowed features from one technology and adapted them to another. Edison obtained 1,093 United States patents, the most the U.S. patent office has ever issued to one person. Altogether, he received thousands of patents from some two dozen nations.
Edison's promotion of the research laboratory grew out of his methods of work. He usually worked alongside his assistants. He wanted to see how others had solved mechanical, electrical, and chemical problems and then tried to improve upon their ideas. Early in his career, Edison hired machine shop assistants to help him. Within a few years, he established a laboratory for inventing. By the early 1900's, U.S. corporations had seen the success of research labs, such as Edison's and those in Germany, and began establishing their own.
Edison was also a good businessman. He not only loved to design new devices but also wanted them to be used by many people. He found financial partners worldwide and created new companies to manufacture and sell his products. Income from selling his products helped support his research laboratory and the development of more devices. As a result, Edison and other manufacturing pioneers in the late 1800's helped make the United States an industrial world power.
Excerpt adapted from the
"Thomas Alva Edison" article, The World Book Encyclopedia © 1999