Illuminating The Path Of Progress :: essays research papers

Illuminating the Path of improvement     Thomas Alva Edison is the most famous inventor in American History.Edison designed, built, and delivered the electrical age. He started arevolution that would refocus technology, change life patterns, and give risemillions of jobs. He became famous for his scientific subterfuges, even though hewas not a scientist. His real talent was his ability to clearly judge a problemand be persistent in experimenting. He was the master of the exam and errormethod.     Thomas Edison was born on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. He was the stretch out of seven children born to Samuel and Nancy Edison. Edisons early life wasspent in Ohio serious the nations busiest grain port. He spent time exploring thecanal and played contiguous his fathers shingle business.     When Alva was a child, he had scarlet fever. The fever damaged his auditory sense and delayed his entrance into schoolho single-v alued function. Edison was curious about theworld around him and constantly tried to teach himself through reading andexperiments. Alva spent three days in home schooling. He was taught by hismother. He afterwards returned to school but left at age twelve to get a job andhelp support his family.     Edison got his initiatory job selling publishers and snacks to the passengerson the train between Port Huron and Detroit. Edison bought a used printing shrink in 1862 and published the Grand Trunk Herald for passengers. It was thefirst newspaper published on a train.     When Edison was fifteen, he was taught Morse code and became a managerof a telegraph office. Edison got the idea for his first invention from work here. His first inventions were the transmitter and receiver for theautomatic telegraph. At 21, Edison produced his first study invention, a stockticker. In 1869, when Edison was twenty-two, he patented his first inventionand adver tised that he would devote his time to bringing out his inventions.The first patent received by Edison was for a vote recorder. Years laterEdisons design was put in use by state legislatures for use by the public ingeneral elections. By the age of xxiii Edison owned two factories tomanufacture telegraphic equipment and had money to pursue his research.     On December 25, 1871, Edison married Mary Stilwell. They had threechildren. Two of his children were nicknamed Dot and shoot after the Morse code.     In 1880 Edison made a discovery in science. He noticed that when ametal plate was inserted into a clean bulb, the plate became a valve and thecurrent could be controlled. This discovery is known as the "Edison Effect.