Thomas edison story

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Thomas Edison, tinkerer

Thomas Edison’s reputation is complicated. He is without a doubt the most well-known of all the inventors of his era — possibly ever. Yet, when his name comes up in conversation, the word ‘fraud’ often accompanies it. ‘Edison didn’t even invent the light bulb,’ often quickly follows any mention of his name in conversation. And it’s true, he didn’t. Instead, he was a technical founder, taking existing ideas and bringing them to market.

Edison may not have been the first to any of the big-name inventions he is known for. He was a different kind of inventor. He improved several big-name inventions, made hundreds of the small inventions needed to bring electric lighting to the masses, and was an able — even if at times imperfect — executive when he needed to be, capable of making a massive operation like this work.

As a technical founder, he was extraordinary. However, vital pieces of Edison’s process would be difficult today. Some pieces would often stray into illegality – especially his endless and never pre-approved experimentation. And many of today’s po

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Excited about your new electric vehicle? Thomas Edison would be, too. He tried to produce electric vehicles for Ford around 1900. Petroleum-based vehicles dashed his dreams of the electric car, and the battery he wanted to use languished as a technological dead end. The batteries were long-lasting, sure, but they were expensive and had other problems, not the least of which was producing hydrogen gas. But that battery technology is receiving renewed interest today, because some of the things that made it a bad car battery make it good for alternate energy projects.

You wouldn’t think a century-old battery technology that was never very popular would make a comeback. But then again, who thought we’d see the return of bell-bottom pants or vinyl records? Continue reading “Electric Vehicle 1900’s Style: New Leases On Old Tech”→

These days, we have LED light bulbs that will last a decade. But it wasn’t so long ago that incandescent lamps were all we had, and they burned out after several months. Thomas Edison’s early light bulbs u

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Was Thomas Edison a hack? Historians take on claims in The Oatmeal

EDISON – The 100,000 residents of this Middlesex County town might be distressed to hear that its namesake – an all-around knave and idiot – stole credit for inventions, smeared his competitors and killed his assistant in a stunning act of scientific ineptitude that typified his fraudulent career.

After all, Thomas Alva Edison's likeness and inventions appear in the town council's chambers, on its library cards, and on signs that welcome visitors to the place that used to be called Raritan, to the place that Thomas Edison himself called "the prettiest in all of New Jersey."

So what are Edisonians to make of a recent resurgence in anti-Edison propaganda – most notably on a website called The Oatmeal, but also in the uncritical media attention that has surrounded it – that shines a harsh light on their town's most famous former resident? The comic posits a potentially devastating thesis: Thomas Edison was no pioneer, and took every opportunity to ruin his contemporary, Nikola Tesla, a true