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.

Personal life

Thomas Edison was a freethinker, and was most likely a deist, claiming he did not believe in "the God of the theologians," but did not doubt that "there is a Supreme Intelligence." However, he rejected the idea of the supernatural, along with such ideas as the soul, immortality, and a personal God. "Nature," he said, "is not merciful and loving, but wholly merciless, indifferent."http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/edison.htm

Related Topics:
Freethinker - Deist

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Edison was a vegetarian: "Non-violence" he said, " leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages."

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He was married twice, the first time in 1871 to Mary Stilwell (1855-1884), with whom he had three children—Marion Estelle, Thomas Jr., and William Leslie—before she died at age 29, probably of typhoid fever. His second marriage was to Mina Miller (1865-1946), also with three children, Madeleine, Charles (who took over the company), and Theodore Miller. He purchased a home known as Glenmont in 1886 as a wedding gift for Mina in West Orange, New Jersey. The remains of Thomas and Mina Edison are now buried there. The 13.5 acre (55,000 m²) property is maintained by the National Park Service as the Edison National Historic Site.

Related Topics:
1871 - 1855 - 1884 - Typhoid fever - Mina Miller - 1865 - 1946 - Madeleine - Charles - Theodore Miller - 1886 - West Orange, New Jersey - National Park Service - Edison National Historic Site

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His contributions to technology benefited people world-wide, and in 1878 he was named Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur of France, and in 1889 was made a Commander in the Legion of Honor.

Related Topics:
1878 - Légion d'honneur - France - 1889

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