As
the manager of the world's first industrial research unit, Edison
inspired his co-workers through example. His tremendous work ethic
and undying enthusiasm were the foundation of his success.
Described as having matchless
courage, imagination and determination, Edison's life is a stirring
example of the American Dream come true.
Born in 1847, Thomas Alva Edison was the youngest son of a shingle
manufacturer father and a schoolteacher mother.
Right from childhood, Edison was full of curiosity - "How does
a hen hatch chickens?"; "What makes birds fly?"; "Why
does water put out a fire?" When his mother or books couldn't
answer his questions, he resorted to experiment. When he learnt that
hens hatched eggs by sitting on them, he collected some goose and
hen eggs in a basket and sat on it. And when he discovered that balloons
fly because they have air, he persuaded a friend to take Siedlitz
powder, a carbonated laxative. Edison reasoned that with a stomach
full of gas, the boy would float! But instead, the boy became ill.
Even at school his frequent questions frustrated his teacher. The
irritated teacher labelled the young Edison as 'retarded,' thus annoying
his mother. Consequently, after only three months of formal schooling,
he was withdrawn from school.
Thereafter Edison was taught at home by his mother. He was a fast
learner and when he was 9, his mother gave him a chemistry textbook
by Richard G. Parker, a well-known teacher of the mid 1800's. True
to character, Edison verified every experiment by repeating them himself.
He has amassed over 100 bottles of chemicals and set up a chemistry
lab in the basement of the family home. He labelled each bottle as
'poison' so that other family members would not tamper with them.
From the age of 12, to finance his experiments, he worked on the Grand
Trunk Railway selling newspapers, sandwiches, peanuts and candy. He
served regularly on the Port Huron to Detroit route. And in the baggage
car of the train he set up a chemistry lab and printing press. In
his spare time he experimented and printed the Weekly Herald - the
first newspaper published on a moving train.
At the age of 16, he got a job as a telegrapher, sending hourly messages
to Toronto. It was at this time that he made his first invention.
He made a gadget that would send the signals hourly, even if he was
asleep!
Then in 1868, he made an electric vote-recording machine which he
unsuccessfully tried to persuade Congress to buy. It was then that
Edison resolved, "I will never again invent anything nobody wants."
In 1869, he was asked to repair a stock ticker - a telegraph device
used to report gold prices from the Gold Indicator Company to their
brokers' offices. He did so and then went on to make further improvements
to the machine. The company bought the patents for the modified machine
for $40,000.
He used the money to set up a scientific village at Menlo Park. Here,
he employed chemists, machinists, mathematicians, in fact anyone he
thought would be able to help him solve tricky problems. He installed
the latest equipment and his facilities had few rivals, even at leading
universities. Thus, he married science to industry and developed the
'team research' concept - one which was imitated 20 years later by
the giant corporations of Europe and America. This idea was probably
Edison's greatest invention.
With these facilities at his disposal, Edison promised a minor invention
every ten days and a 'big trick' every six months. He offered to 'make
inventions to order' and so was described as the man 'who made a business
of invention.'
In fact, Edison patented a record 1093 inventions in his lifetime.
Many of his patents were for significant improvements to the inventions
of others. For example, until he corrected the letter alignment and
ink distribution of the typewriter, writing by hand was faster than
typing. Edison also designed the carbon transmitter for use in the
telephone. Before this, people had to shout into the telephone. Thus,
his invention made the telephone more practical. Edison's own inventions
include motion pictures, the microphone, mimeograph, nickel-iron-alkaline
storage battery and many others.
The
Phonograph & Electric Light Bulb
Undoubtedly one of his most original inventions, Edison invented the
phonograph in 1877. The idea came to him while trying to find a way
to record telegraph messages automatically.
Then in 1879 came his most famous invention - the electric light bulb.
This was not as original an invention as the phonograph, since gas
had already been used for lighting. But Edison searched for two years
to find a filament - a wire - that gave good light when electricity
flowed through it. During his search he sent agents to the jungles
of the Amazon and to the forests of Japan. Finally, after thousands
of experiments for a suitable light bulb filament, Edison succeeded
by using a carbonised thread sealed in a vacuum, so that it would
glow without being consumed. Then, his staff worked out the principles
of the modern generating and distribution system to make electrical
lights practical for every home.
In 1882, he opened the first electricity generating station at Pearl
Street in New York.
Edison established many companies to promote and market his many products.
The Edison Electric Company, which made the electric lamp and central
station equipment, eventually, through a series of mergers, became
the General Electric Company.
In 1887, Edison moved to a larger premises and a more modern laboratory
in West Orange, New Jersey.
No
Fear of Failure
Edison frequently met with failures and setbacks. Once, his entire
fortune was tied up in machinery for a magnetic separation process
for low-grade iron ore. But this process became obsolete and uneconomical
due to the opening of rich high-grade mines.
One cold night in December 1914, at a time when experiments on the
nickel-iron-alkaline storage battery had put a severe financial strain
on Edison, and only profits from films and record production were
supporting the laboratory, the entire plant caught fire. Spontaneous
combustion had occurred in the film room and within minutes everything
was consumed by the fire. Fire fighters from eight towns arrived but
struggled to control the fire.
Even during this time of immense personal tragedy, Edison, now aged
67, revealed his ever-optimistic outlook. He told his children, "Where's
Mom. Go, get her! Tell her to get her friends! They'll never see a
fire like this again!"
At 5.30 the following morning, with the fire still raging, he gathered
his employees and declared, "We're rebuilding." He told
one man to lease all the machine shops in the area. Another was told
to get a wrecking crane from the local railway company. Then, almost
as an afterthought he asked, "Oh, by the way. Anybody know where
we can get some money?"
He explained, "You can always make capital out of disaster. We've
just cleared out a bunch of old rubbish. We'll build bigger and better
on the ruins." Then, he rolled up his coat for a pillow and curled
up on a table to catch some sleep.
Personality and Beliefs
Edison was married twice, his first wife died young. Both wives complained
that he spent most of his time in the lab and spent little time for
his family.
While he was working for Western Union, America's leading electrical
enterprise at the time, Edison became famous for his ability to cure
'bugs'. He frequently worked all night at the company's headquarters
and was described by the company's operating chief as a 'genius' and
a 'fiend for work' who had 'unfailing self-confidence.'
Edison worked up to 18 hours a day. His ability to live off four hours
of sleep a day - and the occasional catnap - was widely know. Edison
used to say, "Sleep is like a drug. Take too much at a time and
it makes you dopey. You lose time, vitality and also opportunities."
He strongly believed that 'accomplishing something provides the only
real satisfaction in life.'
And when he was described as 'The Wizard of Menlo Park,' he commented,
"Wizard? It's plain hard work that does it." In fact, it
was Edison who said, "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration."
Deaf since early childhood, Edison was frequently questioned as to
why he did not invent a hearing aid. To this, he would philosophically
reply, "How much have you heard in the last 24 hours that you
couldn't do without?" He would then add, "A man who has
to shout can never tell a lie."
Although not religious, Edison believed in a Supreme Intelligence.
He would tell friends that although he was renowned throughout the
world for his inventions, he was unable to create even the simplest
of life forms.
During his lifetime, Edison received many honours and awards. But
his favourite was the gold medal presented to him in 1928 by Congress,
for 'development and application of inventions that have revolutionised
civilisation in the last century.'
Edison's zeal for work was such that he never retired. Even at the
age of 80, he began a search for a native source of rubber, testing
and classifying over 17,000 plants.
Sadly, at the age of 84, Edison fell ill and died. But the light of
his inventions and the example of his dedicated life lives on to inspire
all who endeavour to achieve.
Sadhu Amrutvijaydas
