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Thomas a edison contributions
Thomas Edison and his invention essay
Thomas edison achievements
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In the late 1800s two paths collided. Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla were both very interested in the application of electricity to modern life. Their stories illustrate the fusion of enlightenment and the battle over whose ideas regarding the use of electricity would take hold during the American industrial revolution
Thomas Edison:
Thomas Edison was born on February 11th 1847 in Milon, Ohio (Warren, 2012). Edison possessed a creative and inventive mind beginning in childhood and flourishing throughout his life. Moreover, he was a great business man; often he employed his skills to modify and improve other’s ideas instead of inventing new ones. Throughout the course of his life he was granted over one-thousand patents. His inventions included:
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A series of batteries would power strings of lightbulbs by direct current (DC) and replace the old oil lamps in use everywhere. Once the famous banker, J.P. Morgan, got word of Edison’s invention he sensed its value and wanted to be a part in it. The venture began when Morgan had Edison wire his home, the first in Manhattan. The big news spread throughout New York City and direct current lighting became popular very quickly. Soon direct current powered many homes and businesses in New York City (Cabana, 2012).
Nikola Tesla:
Nikola Tesla was born on July 10th 1856 in modern day Croatia (Warren, 2010). At a young age Tesla was obsessed with electricity. In an early childhood experiment he generated
THE WAR OF CURRENTS
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electricity by rubbing two cats together. Throughout his lifetime he obtained seven hundred patents. These included: spark plugs, radar, wireless communication, remote control, radio, and robots. June 6th 1884, his family immigrated to America (Warren, 2010). He was hired by
Thomas Edison to be an apprentice in his emerging electric light company, Edison and Co. He redesigned the direct current generator that powered Edison’s business. Working along
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The pressure grew for Edison to undermine the competition at all costs. Morgan and Edison launched their own campaign against Tesla and Westinghouse; AC would be demonstrated to cause sure death. They created an electric chair powered by AC. Many animals died from electrocution in front of many audiences. In one demonstration they electrocuted an elephant. These overzealous tactics backfired on Edison and Morgan and public opinion leaned towards Tesla and Westinghouse. (Cabana, 2012).
Tesla and Westinghouse continued to get many opportunities to promote alternating current in a public setting. They received a contract to light the 1887 world fair in Chicago; it was a dazzling sight that opened the imagination of human eyes to alternating current electricity.
They were awarded the contract to generate power from Niagara Falls, a famous tourist destination. As Morgan saw Edison and Company failing, he decided to transition to alternating current. He purchased the stock in Edison’s company and General Electric was born. This highly successful cooperation seized control of the electricity market once and for all and continues to be a major world force today (Cabana, 2012).
THE WAR OF CURRENTS
One of the most well known technological innovator and manufacturer was Thomas Alva Edison. He invented many devices which are still being used today, with some modifications. He even built a vote-recording device before he was twenty-one. Some inventions were the phonograph, incandescent light bulb, and the kinetoscope, which was much like a motion picture camera. In total, he has patented 1,093 inventions. He earned the nickname “The Wizard of Menlo Park”.
Kosanovic, Bogdan R. "Nikola Tesla: A Short Biography." Neuronet. 20 October 1994. Web. 10 Sept. 2011. .
Thomas Edison only had 3 months of formal education, and his schoolmaster thought that Edison may have been retarded. And no one not even his family could envision that Edison would become the inventor that he would eventually end up to be. Born in Milan, Ohio, youngest of 7 children, Edison would often ask questions that his father and mother both could not answer. So naturally he sought out answers through experimentation. Through out his younger years Edison’s mother tried to make learning fun for him, describing it as “exploring”. At age 12 Edison had begun selling newspapers on a railroad line. After purchasing some old type, he soon began printing his own newspapers Grand Truck Herald, the first known newspaper to be printed on a train. However, printing soon halted due to the fact that Edison had set the boxcar on fire, and Edison along with his equipment was thrown from the train. At age 16 Edison got his second job as a telegrapher. He would have to signal Toronto every hour, and Edison thought this to be pointless, thus creating his first invention something to automatically signal Toronto every hour. At 21 Edison made his commercial debut as an inventor with an electric vote-recorder. It did not sell so thereafter he decided to concentrate his efforts on inventions that he was sure would be in universal demand. Then in 1869 Edison arrived in Boston, practically penniless he persuaded a broker to let him sleep in his office. Then when the broker’s stock ticker broke Edison was able to repair it where many others had failed. Amazed the manager quickly made Edison one of his superiors. Soon after Edison invented the printing telegraph, but before approaching the company president to sell the device he thought he should settle on a fair selling price, 3,000$. But Edison decided to let the president of the company to make an offer on his machine, which turned out to be 40,000$ Edison accepted the offer. After selling the patents for the stock ticker Edison had enough money to open his own workshop known as Menlo Park, it was here that some of his most important inventions were created. Of these were
Another incredibly talented and well- known inventor is none other than Nikola Tesla. Tesla was born in Smiljan, Lika, in the region of Croatia on July 10, 1856. His father was an Orthodox priest, and his mother was a house hold appliance inventor. As a child he was known for being ingenious and obsessive. Tesla was a very fast-paced and obsessive learner. He often pulled all-nighters, or functioned with only a few hours of sleep. Tesla loved challenging the standard theories, along with improving and advancing them. Unfortunately, his obsessiveness with subjects and challenges caused him to develop Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. (SOURCE). As a young adult, he took classes at the Realschule, Karlstadt iin 1873, and although he started his career
He applied for the last of his 1,093 patents during this time. The last patent granted was for an apparatus that could hold objects together during the electroplating
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer and physicist. He was also considered an eccentric genius and recluse. Tesla is best known for his feud with Thomas Edison over AC power Versus DC Power. He was also well known for inventing the Tesla Coil which is still used in radio technology today. Nikola Tesla was mostly forgotten until the 1990’s when there was a resurgence of interest in popular culture.
Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) was an eccentric man that was many lifetimes ahead of his generation. He was a man that dreamed of giving the world an unlimited supply of wireless energy. His genius imagination allowed him to think outside the box and solve issues that others had thought were unsolvable. Nikola Tesla proposed his vision for a system powered by an alternating current generator to Thomas Edison and was shot down because Thomas Edison’s power structure had already been established using a direct current system. The two butt heads however Nikola Tesla was relentless. After being used and rejected by Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla picked himself and went toe to toe with the most prolific inventor. The stage for David vs Goliath was set. Through Nikola Tesla’s borderline obsession to solve the design for an alternating current motor and sacrificing his own opportunity to become a wealthy man, we now live in a very efficient world where everyone reaps the rewards of his genius, few know his name, and even fewer know what he did.
The demonstration of the Incandescent light bulb was held in downtown New York City, New York at financier J.P Morgan’s office. The incandescent light bulb had instantly spread throughout the majority of the American homes and offices. The first incandescent light bulb used a carbon base inside a glass bulb until it became hot to produce a glow, (CITE). Many of the first designs were burning up quickly due to a poor vacuum design. Gas companies once dominated the industry were having a difficult time promoting the arc lamp due to the new invention of the Incandescent light bulb, (CITE). By the year 1892, the distribution of electric power replaced the gas setup, which had formally set up throughout the cities and the majority of the
The year was 1878 was the beginning of Electricity. That year Thomas Edison had made the first affordable light bulb. That year he focused primarily to make a light bulb powered by electricity which was safe; something that scientist were trying to make and succeed since 1828 "Thomas Alva Edison." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.) With the help of J.P Morgan (financial banker) he founded his company. Edison soon later became quite famous around the world. His lighting systems were soon used to light the “Paris lighting exhibition” and the “Crystal palace of London” ("Thomas Alva Edison." History.com. ) Later on came in the “the battle of currents”
Some of his inventions were improvements on other inventions, like the telephone. He didn’t “invent” the telephone he just made it better. Some of his inventions he did try to invent, like the light bulb and the movie projector. The one he is most proud of was pretty much an accident--the phonograph.
Humans these days take electricity for granted. We don’t truly understand what life was like without it. Most young adults will tell you their life does not depend on electricity, but they aren’t fooling anyone. They all know that their life depends on electricity; whether it’s television, their phone, Google, or the lights in their house. We need to stop taking those things for granted and give credit where credit is due. That is why I chose to write about the scientists who contributed to the discovery of electricity, which then helped modern scientists fuel the electricity phenomenons we now have today.
Thomas Edison is widely regarded as one of the most influential inventors and innovators of the Twentieth Century. Edison’s efforts ushered in a new era of technology; a world in which electricity would be harnessed and made to bow before man’s will. Walter Lippman wrote, “It is impossible to measure the importance of Edison by adding up the specific inventions with which his name is associated” (qtd. in Baldwin 409). Edison’s decades long career was a synergistic melding of his success as an inventor and his prowess as a promoter and businessman. He exemplified the ideals of intelligence married to hard work and perseverance. He forever changed the landscape of American invention and the limits of technological change (Baldwin 409).
Nikola Tesla was born in a small town called Smiljan, in what is now Croatia, during a lightning storm. Some would say that this would prove significant later in his life. He grew up the son of a Serbian Orthodox Reverend, and was one of five children. He was an avid reader, and would often memorize entire books.
Thomas Edison was born on February 11, 1847 in Milan Ohio. Thomas Edison was one of most famous American inventor and businessman in nineteenth century. He invented many great and remarkable devices during that period. His most famous inventions such as the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and electric incandescent light bulb. Those inventions bring great influences around the world; also his inventions improve the society. During Thomas Edison’s entire life, he created more than 2000 inventions as well he acquired 1093 patents in the Untied States. Also Thomas Edison became a successful businessman. He manufactures his inventions and selling them to the markets.