Thomas Edison
Introduction
Did you know Thomas Edison became nearly deaf as a child? How about that he nicknamed two of his kids from telegraphic terms? Or that he created a lightbulb filament that would last for 50 days? These were just some of Thomas Edison’s greatest accomplishments and challenges. In this essay you’re going to learn about that and so much more.
Early life
Many know about Thomas Edison’s inventions and achievements. However, few take the time to learn about the struggles of his early life.
Childhood
When Thomas was young, he loved mechanical and chemical experiments. So, you would think he would be top of his class or even a grade ahead. That is incorrect, as he was perceived as so troubled that he was called “addled” by his teacher. Therefore, he was taken out of school and was taught another way. To quote the Oxford Dictionary (OD), “Edison was taught reading, writing, and arithmetic by his mother, who used to be a schoolteacher”. However, one biographer described him as curious and very much an autodidact, meaning someone who is self-taught. He seemed to find all the knowledge needed for practical purposes and so went to work, selling the first-ever newspaper which was published on a moving train.
Another challenge he faced was losing almost all his hearing. Many possible theories arose: was it the aftereffects of his scarlet fever? was it because he was boxed in the ears by a train conductor? or was it when he was lifted into a train by his ear by some meanie-dote? This act happened because he supposedly set a fire in a train car, though he claimed it never happened. The final theory, that Thomas Edison believes himself, was when he was lifted to a train by his ears. Ouch! Now, this disability could discourage some, but this was an advantage to Edison. You see, he loved his experiments and research, and restricted sounds made it way easier for him to focus. This did make him more solitary, but he treated it like an asset. This skill of taking a difference or a disadvantage and turning it into an advantage is a part of his extraordinary success.
Early Career
When Thomas was 13, he secured his first job as a news butcher. He sold trinkets like candy, newspapers and vegetables from Detroit to Port Huron on the train. His passion for experimenting made him use most of his 50-dollar per week income. This amount of money is around 80k a year in today’s money. He made this much money by being an entrepreneur and having other boys do a variety of money-making activities while he was making money on the train. To explore this fascinating subject, and to understanding fully how this boy genius accomplished this, one must turn to a real in-depth biography. Additionally, you can learn far more about this stunning fact: while doing his job he saved a 3-year-old from being squashed by a train. The father was so appreciative that he taught Thomas how to be a telegraph operator. This would later become one of the fields where Edison contributed mightily.
Telegraph innovation
People mainly know Thomas Edison for one thing: his creation of the lightbulb. This was one of his major accomplishments, but his telegraph work also improved society.
Partners
When Edison worked on the telegraph, he had some help along the way. “Edison became involved in [many] projects and partnerships dealing with the telegraph” (Library of Congress). In October 1869, Edison formed with Franklin L. Pope and James Ashley the organization, Pope, Edison and Co. The company advertised themselves as electrical engineers and builders. Then, he expanded to the American Telegraph Works, formed in New Jersey in 1870. The creators were Edison and George Harrington. Their operation started in 1873. Just one-year later the partnership merged with Gold and Stock Telegraph Co.
How he improved telegraph technology
When Thomas Edison started working in the telegraph field, he improved it a lot. In forming the American Telegraph Works to form an automatic telegraph, he improved the speed and the ease of the telegraph. This led to the multiplex telegraph transmitter which was developed when he worked at Western Union. After this he invented the quadruplex telegraph, which let you send two messages simultaneously both ways. After that, “Edison sold his patent rights to the quadruplex to the rival Atlantic & Pacific Telegraph Co., a series of court battles followed in which Western Union won,” benefitting Edison (Library of Congress).
Personal life
At the time of Edison’s telegraphing work, his personal life had changed much. His mother died in 1871, and later that year he got married. Thomas Edison married Mary Stiltwell, an employee of the News Reporting Telegraph Company, and they had three kids. Their first child, Marion, was born in February 1873, followed by a son, Thomas, Jr., born in January 1876. Edison nicknamed the two “Dot” and “Dash,” referring to telegraphic terms.
Lightbulb
The lightbulb. Thomas Edison’s greatest accomplishment – did he invent it all by himself? No, he wasn’t the sole inventor – but he did put on the finishing touches!
Other people
Thomas Edison did not create the original lightbulb, Warren de La Rue did. His lightbulb used a coil platinum filament. “Other inventors had also devised incandescent lamps, including Alessandro Volta’s demonstration of a glowing wire in 1800 and inventions by Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans. Others who developed early and commercially impractical incandescent electric lamps included Humphry Davy, James Bowman Lindsay, Moses G. Farmer, William E. Sawyer, Joseph Swan, and Heinrich Göbel” (OD). Many people tried but all the lightbulbs were impractical until Thomas Edison stepped in.
Problems and solutions
After the lightbulb was made, many problems persisted. The light had to be incandescent, which meant that it was carrying heat, and for indoor use, this could be dangerous. When the lightbulb was built, it used a coiled platinum filament which made it impractical because of the prices of platinum. Also it had “flaws such as an extremely short life and requir[ed] a high electric current to operate which made them difficult to apply on a large scale commercially” (Library of Congress). Edison tried stuff like carbonized cardboard, but it burnt out too fast for lasting light. He tried with different grasses and such, but landed on carbonized bamboo (whoch is in the grass family – did you know that?) as the best filament. This filament could last 1200 hours (50 days) before burning out. However, he eventually got the patent for one of the most useful inventions in history.
Conclusion
To conclude, Thomas Edison was an amazing man – he had a tough life full of challenges but came out on top. He made the first practical incandescent lightbulb, became accustomed to being deaf, and used it to his advantage, and also improved the telegraph in dynamic ways. Please remember how his attitude was so instrumental in dealing with his deafness, and how used it to his advantage (and to ours). I’ll leave with this quote, which ties back to his healthy and creative attitude about obstacles. When explaining the difficulties in inventing lightbulb refinement, our great Edison said this: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10000 ways that don’t work.”
