Thomas Edisons Recolections of his Life - 771 Words

Thomas Edison It is extremely hard for most people today – at least those of us in so-called developed countries – to remember, or even picture a world without telephones, movie theaters, recorded music or even electric lights. But not very long ago, none of those inventions existed. Some say I was ahead of my time, that I was the wizard of Menlo Park. By now you know who I am, Im Thomas Edison, I invented the first incandescent electric light bulb, the first motion picture camera, the first industrial research lab, and much more. But I am more than an inventor. Have you lately faced a road block or found yourself giving up? Well I can fix that. Lets start with a brief history of myself so you can understand my motivations and†¦show more content†¦I soon received a reputation as a first-rank inventor. My work included stock tickers, fire alarms, methods of sending simultaneous messages on one wire, and an electrochemical telegraph to send messages by automatic machin ery. The crowning achievement of this period was the quadruplex telegraph, which sent two messages simultaneously in each direction on one wire. In 1876, I created a freestanding industrial research facility incorporating both a machine shop and laboratories. Here in Menlo Park, on the rail line between New York City and Philadelphia, I developed three of my greatest inventions. I was encouraged by Western Union to develop a telephone that could compete with Alexander Graham Bells, so I invented a transmitter in which a button of compressed carbon changed its resistance as it was vibrated by the sound of the users voice, a new principle that is used in telephones in this century. While working on the telephone in the summer of 1877, I discovered a method of recording sound, and in the late fall I unveiled the phonograph. This astounding instrument brought myself the nicknames, the Wizard of Menlo Park and the inventor of the age. Finally, beginning in the fall of 1878, I devoted thirty months to developing a complete system of incandescent electric lighting. In the early years of the automobile industry there were hopes for an electric vehicle, and I spent the first decade of the twentieth