A biography of the life and inventions of thomas alva edison

Thomas Alva Edison The American inventor Thomas Alva Edison held hundreds of patents, most for electrical devices and electric light and power. Although the phonograph and incandescent lamp are best known, perhaps his greatest invention was organized research.

Listen to this page Life of Thomas Alva Edison One of the most famous and prolific inventors of all time, Thomas Alva Edison exerted a tremendous influence on modern life, contributing inventions such as the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera, as well as improving the telegraph and telephone.

In his 84 years, he acquired an astounding 1, patents. Aside from being an inventor, Edison also managed to become a successful manufacturer and businessman, marketing his inventions to the public. The following is only a brief sketch of an enormously active and complex life full of projects often occurring simultaneously.

Several excellent biographies are readily available in local libraries to those who wish to learn more about the particulars of his life and many business ventures. Photo courtesy of U.

From there, later generations relocated to Ontario and fought the Americans in the War of When Sam became involved in an unsuccessful insurrection in Ontario in the s, he was forced to flee to the United States and in they made their home in Milan, Ohio.

Known as "Al" in his youth, Edison was the youngest of seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood. Edison tended to be in poor health when young.

To seek a better fortune, Sam Edison moved the family to Port Huron, Michigan, inwhere he worked in the lumber business. Edison was a poor student.

When a schoolmaster called Edison "addled," his furious mother took him out of the school and proceeded to teach him at home. Edison said many years later, "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me, and I felt I had some one to live for, some one I must not disappoint.

In the baggage car, he set up a laboratory for his chemistry experiments and a printing press, where he started the Grand Trunk Herald, the first newspaper published on a train. An accidental fire forced him to stop his experiments on board.

Around the age of twelve, Edison lost almost all his hearing. There are several theories as to what caused his hearing loss. Some attribute it to the aftereffects of scarlet fever which he had as a child. Others blame it on a conductor boxing his ears after Edison caused a fire in the baggage car, an incident which Edison claimed never happened.

Edison himself blamed it on an incident in which he was grabbed by his ears and lifted to a train. He did not let his disability discourage him, however, and often treated it as an asset, since it made it easier for him to concentrate on his experiments and research.

Undoubtedly, though, his deafness made him more solitary and shy in dealings with others. Telegraph Work InEdison rescued a three-year-old from a track where a boxcar was about to roll into him.

The grateful father, J.Oct 26,  · Thomas Edison, seen late in life in this video, was the most famous inventor in American history.

Thomas Edison - Wikipedia

Though he is best known for his invention of the phonograph and incandescent electric light, Edison took out 1, patents in a variety of fields, including electric light and power, telephony and telegraphy, and sound recording. Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, – October 18, ) was an American inventor and businessman, who has been described as America's greatest inventor.

Edison, His Life and Inventions at Project Gutenberg by Frank Lewis Dyer and Thomas Commerford Martin. Thomas Alva Edison was born February 11, in Milan, Ohio (pronounced MY-lan). In , when he was seven, the family moved to Michigan, where Edison spent the rest of his childhood.

"Al," as he was called as a boy, went to school only a short time. Thomas Alva Edison was born to Sam and Nancy on February 11, , in Milan, Ohio. Known as "Al" in his youth, Edison was the youngest of seven children, four of whom survived to adulthood.

Edison tended to be in poor health when young. Thomas Alva Edison February 11, – October 18, )was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb.

out of 5 stars Edison: A Life of Invention, finally an objective, truthful biography If you could read only one book about Thomas Alva Edison, there is no better source than Edison, A Life of Invention by Paul Israel published in /5(24).