Thomas Edison: A Photo Essay

Thomas Edison (1847-1931) said the following:

"Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration."

Interestingly enough, he was the first person to use the concept of the assembly line in the laboratory - he is credited as the first person to run an industrial research facility. This relates well to the quote because, well, the more people, the more inspiration and the more perspiration as well!

It honestly sounds like an amazingly fun job - getting to be around intelligent people inventing things and working together. I found a photograph of him in a magazine I was just reading during a recent (10 minutes ago) trip to the restroom -



Here he is, sleeping outdoors. I imagine that he probably met with some of his research team out there, using those chairs that look like they are very modern.



We have some chairs. This picture is a shout-out to ATS user Arken, who does a much better job than I could with makeshift photo forensics while searching the surface of Mars.



I thought it was interesting to see a picture of Edison sleeping outdoors - I hadn't even been aware that there were pictures of him. Here is another picture of him taking a power nap, this time, on a table.



And another, after 72 hours of work.



Here is a picture of him with a light bulb - one of his inventions.



This diagram of the light bulb breaks down how one works. I love diagrams - now imagine being able to take each part after getting the general idea, and test them - to see, for example, which filament material is the most effective.

In fact, Humphry Davy invented the concept of the light bulb by passing an electric current through a think wire of platinum around 1800 - but it was not bright enough or lasting enough to be useful.

It wasn't until 1878 that Thomas Edison started to put serious effort into finding a practical light bulb - his team of researchers eventually decided to use carbon fiber made from bamboo, which lasted over 1200 hours.



And a picture of Edison testing out the Phonograph, another one of his inventions.



And here he is testing out the motion picture camera - which he also invented.

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I always thought that both Thomas Edison and Nikolai Tesla were fun people.

Further Reading:
Wikipedia: Thomas Edison

Wikipedia: Light Bulb

reply to post by darkbake


Tesla on Edison: "If he had a needle to find in a haystack he would not stop to reason where it was most likely to be, but would proceed at once, with the feverish diligence of a bee, to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search. ... I was almost a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety per cent of his labor."
—New York Times, October 19, 1931 (the day after Edison died)

edison was only a master of patenting other peoples ideas.
perhaps that was his genius?

Edison also was the first to electrocute to kill small animals in a failed attempt to drive public support away from alternating current in favor of his much less efficient direct current. He set up public displays killing animals with A/C to show an inherent danger with a technology which he was not invested in. A technology which would wind up being far superior to that which he supported in the end. He was the sort of man who would go to any length to get what he wanted, no matter who got hurt.

reply to post by okamitengu


That is true - and that might be reflected in his quote of only one percent inspiration. I think Edison's skill set involved working with people and management while still understanding what they were working on.

reply to post by teslarocks


Perfect video, TeslaRocks - check this out. I found a motion picture documentary of Edison.

reply to post by darkbake

Pretty Cool Vid. I like Edison for his business savvy and some of his work. But in the genius competition, Tesla wins!

Here's one for you on Tesla.