Thomas Edison

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Whether it be the remodeling of a modern car or an improvement in the motherboard of a computer, inventing solutions and, in turn, contributing to the progression of society and technologies is an incredible feat. Throughout the course of history our world has seen a multitude of reputable inventors, from Alexander Graham Bell to Nikola Tesla, and Benjamin Franklin to Archimedes. These individuals are extremely intelligent but also have a passion and drive for innovation and problem solving. It is through much perseverance and creativity that they were able to extend technological boundaries and overcome problems that were encountered with past inventions. These individuals have developed and improved hundreds of inventions in order to …show more content…

Born in Milan, Ohio and raised in Michigan, Edison was the seventh and last child to Samuel Ogden Edison and Nancy Matthews Elliot, who worked ordinary jobs and had no legitimate source of education. As a child, Edison’s was clearly elsewhere. It did not take long for him to be kicked out of school as a child, having only received 3 months of formal education. Following this, he was taught by his mother at home. Edison describes his relationship with his mother as very strong and as the focal point of his life. It was because of her that he felt purposeful and aspired to become great. At an early age, Edison developed hearing problems that are said to have been attributed to recurring untreated ear infections. As a young teen he sold candy and newspapers on trains running throughout the state, and he also supplemented his income by selling vegetables. Alongside work he studied qualitative analysis and conducted chemical experiments. Soon after he was able to begin a life-long streak of entrepreneurial ventures by obtaining exclusive rights to sell newspapers on the streets. While continuing as a businessman, Edison began his career as an inventor in New Jersey in the 1870s. The phonograph and the light bulb are only two of over two thousand patents/inventions that Thomas Edison brought to life throughout his …show more content…

Invented in 1877, the purpose of the phonograph is to mechanically record and reproduce sound. Edison conceived the principle of the phonograph as an effort to replay telegraph messages. While experimenting, he noticed that the movement of a paper tape through a telegraph, at high speeds, resembled spoken words. He pressed a stylus into a tinfoil cylinder and was astonished when it recorded his message. This worked because the vibrations of Edison’s voice caused indentation onto the cylinder by the recording needle. Following this discovery, he was able to create a machine with two needles-one to record sound and one to play it back. Of course, Edison intended for the phonograph to be used to replay telegraph messages, but he suggested other uses such as letter writing and dictation, family records, music boxes/toys, alarm clocks, books for the blind and connection with telephones. Originally, people had a hard time believing that this discovery was legitimate. It seemed almost magical to the world-he became widely known as the wizard of Menlo Park following the first demonstration of the phonograph in November of 1877. Throughout the next few decades even a longer list of uses was created. The basic machine was sold for sixty dollars and became popular in private homes in the early twentieth

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