ThomasEdison, 1847-1931: America'sGreatInventor

Edisonisrememberedmostfortheelectriclight, phonographandhisworkwithmotionpictures.

ANNOUNCER:

WelcometotheVOASpecialEnglishprogram, PeopleinAmerica. Today, SarahLongandBobDoughtytellabouttheinventorThomasAlvaEdison. Hehadamajoreffectonthelivesofpeoplearoundtheworld. ThomasEdisonisrememberedmostfortheelectriclight, hisphonographandhisworkwithmotionpictures.

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VOICEONE:

ThomasEdison

ThomasEdison'smajorinventionsweredesignedandbuiltinthelastyearsoftheeighteenhundreds. However, mostofthemhadtheirgreatesteffectinthetwentiethcentury. Hisinventionsmadepossibletheprogressoftechnology.

ItisextremelydifficulttofindanyonelivingtodaywhohasnotbeenaffectedinsomewaybyThomasEdison. MostpeopleonEarthhaveseensomekindofmotionpictureorheardsomekindofsoundrecording. Andalmosteveryonehasatleastseenanelectriclight.

TheseareonlythreeofthemanydevicesThomasEdisoninventedorhelpedtoimprove. Peoplelivinginthiscenturyhavehadeasierandmoreenjoyablelivesbecauseofhisinventions.

VOICETWO:

ThomasAlvaEdisonwasbornonFebruaryeleventh, eighteenforty-seveninthesmalltownofMilan, Ohio. Hewastheyoungestofsevenchildren.

ThomasEdisonwasself-taught. Hewenttoschoolforonlythreemonths. Histeacherthoughthecouldnotlearnbecausehehadamentalproblem. ButyoungTomEdisoncouldlearn. Helearnedfrombooksandheexperimented.

Attheageoften, hebuilthisownchemicallaboratory. Heexperimentedwithchemicalsandelectricity. Hebuiltatelegraphmachineandquicklylearnedtosendandreceivetelegraphmessages. Atthetime, sendingelectricsignalsoverwireswasthefastestmethodofsendinginformationlongdistances. Attheageofsixteen, hewenttoworkasatelegraphoperator.

Helaterworkedinmanydifferentplaces. Hecontinuedtoexperimentwithelectricity. Whenhewastwenty-one, hesenttheUnitedStatesgovernmentthedocumentsneededtorequestthelegalprotectionforhisfirstinvention. ThegovernmentgavehimhisfirstpatentonanelectricdevicehecalledanElectrographicVoteRecorder. Itusedelectricitytocountvotesinanelection.

VOICEONE:

Inthesummermonthsofeighteensixty-nine, theWesternUnionTelegraphCompanyaskedThomasEdisontoimproveadevicethatwasusedtosendfinancialinformation. Itwascalledastockprinter. MisterEdisonveryquicklymadegreatimprovementsinthedevice. Thecompanypaidhimfortythousanddollarsforhiseffort. Thatwasalotofmoneyforthetime.

ThislargeamountofmoneypermittedMisterEdisontostarthisowncompany. Heannouncedthatthecompanywouldimproveexistingtelegraphdevicesandworkonnewinventions.

MisterEdisontoldfriendsthathisnewcompanywouldinventaminordeviceeverytendaysandproducewhathecalleda"bigtrick" abouteverysixmonths. Healsoproposedthathiscompanywouldmakeinventionstoorder. Hesaidthatifsomeoneneededadevicetodosomekindofwork, justaskanditwouldbeinvented.

VOICETWO:

WithinafewweeksThomasEdisonandhisemployeeswereworkingonmorethanfortydifferentprojects. Theywereeithernewinventionsorwouldleadtoimprovementsinotherdevices. VeryquicklyhewasaskingtheUnitedStatesgovernmentforpatentstoprotectmorethanonehundreddevicesorinventionseachyear. Hewasanextremelybusyman. ButthenThomasEdisonwasalwaysverybusy.

Healmostneversleptmorethanfourorfivehoursanight. Heusuallyworkedeighteenhourseachdaybecauseheenjoyedwhathewasdoing. Hebelievednoonereallyneededmuchsleep. Heoncesaidthatanyonecouldlearntogowithoutsleep.

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VOICEONE:

ThomasEdisondidnotenjoytakingtoreporters. Hethoughtitwasawasteoftime. However, hedidtalktoareporterinnineteenseventeen. Hewasseventyyearsoldatthetimeandstillworkingonnewdevicesandinventions.

ThereporteraskedMisterEdisonwhichofhismanyinventionsheenjoyedthemost. Heansweredquickly, thephonograph. Hesaidthephonographwasreallythemostinteresting. Healsosaidittooklongertodevelopamachinetoreproducesoundthananyotherofhisinventions.

ThomasEdisontoldthereporterthathehadlistenedtomanythousandsofrecordings. HeespeciallylikedmusicbyBrahms, VerdiandBeethoven. Healsolikedpopularmusic.

ManyoftherecordingsthatThomasEdisonlistenedtoinnineteenseventeencanstillbeenjoyedtoday. Hisinventionmakesitpossibleforpeoplearoundtheworldtoenjoythesamerecordedsound.

VOICETWO:

ThereporteralsoaskedThomasEdisonwhatwasthehardestinventiontodevelop. Heansweredquicklyagain-- theelectriclight. Hesaidthatitwasthemostdifficultandthemostimportant.

Beforetheelectriclightwasinvented, lightwasprovidedinmosthomesandbuildingsbyoilornaturalgas. Bothcausedmanyfireseachyear. Neitheroneproducedmuchlight.

MisterEdisonhadseenahugeandpowerfulelectriclight. Hebelievedthatasmallerelectriclightwouldbeextremelyuseful.Heandhisemployeesbeganworkontheelectriclight.

VOICEONE:

Anelectriclightpasseselectricitythroughmaterialcalledafilamentorwire. Theelectricitymakesthefilamentburnandproducelight. ThomasEdisonandhisemployeesworkedformanymonthstofindtherightmaterialtoactasthefilament.

Timeaftertimeanewfilamentwouldproducelightforafewmomentsandthenburnup. AtlastMisterEdisonfoundthatacarbonfiberproducedlightandlastedalongtimewithoutburningup. Theelectriclightworked.

Atfirst, peoplethoughttheelectriclightwasextremelyinterestingbuthadnovalue. Homesandbusinessesdidnothaveelectricity. Therewasnoneedforit.

MisterEdisonstartedacompanythatprovidedelectricityforelectriclightsforasmallpriceeachmonth. Thesmallcompanygrewslowlyatfirst. Thenitexpandedrapidly. Hiscompanywasthebeginningoftheelectricpowerindustry.

VOICETWO:

ThomasEdisonalsowasresponsiblefortheverybeginningsofthemovieindustry. Whilehedidnotinventtheideaofthemotionpicture, hegreatlyimprovedtheprocess. Healsoinventedthemodernmotionpicturefilm.

Whenmotionpicturesfirstwereshowninthelateeighteenhundreds, peoplecametoseemoviesofalmostanything-- aship, peoplewalkingonthestreet, newautomobiles. Butintime, thesemovingpictureswerenolongerinteresting.

Innineteen-oh-three, anemployeeofThomasEdison'smotionpicturecompanyproducedamoviewithastory. Itwascalled"TheGreatTrainRobbery." Ittoldasimplestoryofagroupofwesterncriminalswhostealmoneyfromatrain. Latertheyarekilledbyagroupofpoliceinagunfight. Themoviewasextremelypopular. "TheGreatTrainRobbery" startedthehugemotionpictureindustry.

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VOICEONE:

ThomasAlvaEdisonisrememberedmostfortheelectriclight, hisphonographandhisworkwithmotionpictures. However, healsoinventedseveraldevicesthatgreatlyimprovedthetelephone. Heimprovedseveralkindsofmachinescalledgeneratorsthatproducedelectricity. Heimprovedbatteriesthatholdelectricity. Heworkedonmanydifferentkindsofelectricmotorsincludingthoseforelectrictrains.

MisterEdisonalsoisrememberedformakingchangesintheinventionprocess. HemovedfromtheNineteenthCenturymethodofanindividualdoingtheinventingtotheTwentiethCenturymethodusingateamofresearchers.

VOICETWO:

Innineteenthirteen, apopularmagazineatthetimecalledThomasEdisonthemostusefulmaninAmerica. Innineteentwenty-eight, hereceivedaspecialmedalofhonorfromtheCongressoftheUnitedStates.

ThomasEdisondiedonJanuarysixth, nineteenthirty-one. Inthemonthsbeforehisdeathhewasstillworkingveryhard. Hehadaskedthegovernmentforlegalprotectionforhislastinvention. Itwaspatentnumberonethousandninety-three.

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ANNOUNCER:

ThisSpecialEnglishprogramwaswrittenandproducedbyPaulThompson. TheannouncerswereSarahLongandBobDoughty.

I'mMaryTillotson. JoinusagainnextweekforanotherPEOPLEINAMERICAprogramontheVoiceofAmerica.