Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman who developed many important devices. "The Wizard of Menlo Park" was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production to the process of invention. In 1880 Edison founded the journal Science, which in 1900 became the journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Early years

Thomas Edison had a late start in his schooling due to childhood illnesses. His mind often wandered and shortly into his schooling his teacher, Alexander Crawford, was overheard calling him "addled." This ended Edison's three-months of formal schooling. His mother had been a school teacher in Canada and happily took over the job of schooling her son in his academics. Mrs. Edison encouraged and taught her son to read and experiment. Many of his lessons came from reading R. G. Parker's School of natural philosophy. Edison's life in Port Huron, Michigan was a bittersweet experience. Partially deaf since adolescence, he became a telegraph operator after he saved the life of J.U. MacKenzie's son, Jimmie, from being struck by a runaway railcar. MacKenzie was so grateful that he took Edison under his wing and trained him as a telegraph operator. Edison's deafness aided him with his telegraphy work as it blocked out noises and prevented Edison from hearing the telegrapher sitting next to him. Some of his earliest inventions related to electrical telegraphy, included a stock ticker. Edison applied for his first patent, the electric vote recorder, on October 28, 1868.

Related Topics:
Alexander Crawford - School of natural philosophy - Port Huron, Michigan - Partially deaf - Telegraph - October 28 - 1868

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