Thomas Alva Edison

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the career of Thomas Edison, who is connected with the development of such invaluable inventions as the telegraph, the submarine cable, the telephone, the electric light, the electric railway, the electric trolley-car, the storage battery, the electric motor and the phonograph. The paper not only looks at the inventions that were Edison's brainchild, but also at the improvements he was able to make with other peoples inventions.

From the Paper:

"Telegraph and its connection with Edison are interesting. When Edison was born in 1847, telegraph had already been invented but it was not generally accepted by the public. Wheatstone and Cooke are credited with the invention of magnetic needle telegraph in England while Morse had invented the electromagnetic telegraph in 1840 in America. In 1847, telegraph was still in its infancy and the farthest west it could reach was Pittsburg. It was however an exciting invention with unlimited possibilities and Edison from the very young age showed keen interest in it. He and his friends first developed a local primitive telegraph system across his neighborhood. This allowed them to send messages to each other. This worked well till a minor incident brought the entire system down and Edison's childhood experimentation with telegraph came to a screeching halt."

More papers on Thomas Alva Edison:

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• Essay # 88931 : "Dramatic Dialogue Between Edison and Einstein"

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