The activities of the American inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Edison were versatile and practical. On his account more than a thousand inventions. Edison's major developments were somehow related to electrical engineering. He perfected an incandescent lamp, telegraph and telephone, and also organized the world's first public-use power station.
From the biography of Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11, 1847 in the US state of Ohio. He was the seventh child in the family of a successful businessman: the father of the future inventor traded in roofing materials. But later the business went wrong: when Thomas was seven years old, his father went bankrupt. Edison's family moved to Michigan, where they led a fairly modest life.
Thomas was passionate about elementary school. But he failed to adapt to an alien school environment. Once the teacher rudely spoke about the boy, after which Thomas left school. Edison received further education at home: his mother was a former school teacher.
At the age of ten, Edison showed interest in chemistry and even arranged his own laboratory in the basement of the house. For experiments, funds were needed. And Thomas starts making money selling candy and newspapers on the train. Edison also had at his disposal a small mobile laboratory equipped in a baggage car. And at the age of 15, Thomas got hold of a printing press on the occasion and began to publish a small newspaper, which he sold to the same passengers.
Subsequently, Edison perfectly mastered the telegraph business and even for about five years served as a telegraph operator. Around the same years, Thomas became acquainted with the work of Faraday, which talked about an experimental study of electricity. The young man had thoughts about invention.
Edison - Inventor
Edison's first invention was an election tally device. No buyers for a patent: the inventor did not take into account all the features of the organization of elections in a bourgeois state, where intrigues and falsifications were in the order of things. After this setback, Edison made a vow: to engage only in inventions that can bring guaranteed practical returns and commercial benefits.
In 1870, Edison received a major reward for developing an apparatus that transmits stock quotes. For the inventor, an amount of 40 thousand dollars was a real wealth. Edison spent these funds on the organization of the workshop. Three years later, Thomas developed his own version of a duplex telegraph system.
In 1876, Edison moved to New Jersey, in the town of Menlo Park. Here, the inventor founded the world's first research and production complex. The company was staffed by experienced employees and manufactured products for commercial purposes. This laboratory, which has turned into a kind of conveyor of technical innovations, is rightly considered the most powerful invention of Edison.
After organizing a state-of-the-art laboratory, Edison did a tremendous job. Among his inventions: a phonograph, a voice recorder, a prototype of a movie camera, different types of batteries, an industrial electric lighting system. Edison, together with the staff, brought to perfection and practical application the telephone and incandescent lamp. He discovered the phenomenon of thermionic emission, which has found application in a vacuum diode.
