The Age of Edison: Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America

by Ernest Freeberg

A sweeping history of the electric light revolution and the birth of modern America
 
The late nineteenth century was a period of explosive technological creativity, but more than any other invention, Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb marked the arrival of modernity, transforming its inventor into a mythic figure and avatar of an era. In The Age of Edison , award-winning author and historian Ernest Freeberg weaves a narrative that reaches from Coney Island and Broadway to the tiniest towns of rural America, tracing the progress of electric light through the reactions of everyone who saw it and capturing the wonder Edison’s invention inspired. It is a quintessentially American story of ingenuity, ambition, and possibility in which the greater forces of progress and change are made by one of our most humble and ubiquitous objects.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, Biography, American History, Technology, Audiobook

368 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2013

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am ashamed to admit, but I had never really thought about a lot of this before. Edison invents the light bulb (sort of) but then the U.S. must get wired and ready to be lit up. Light pole makers didn't know what they were doing and these poles fell down and killed people. The electric companies didn't know what they were doing and the wires fell down and killed people. Electrical workers touched the wrong thing and fell into tangles of overhead wires. Sizzling for hours! How much light is too much light? Do you need street lights when it's a full moon? Why spend all this money on a light bulb to cover it up with a lamp shade? This was a great read about how Americans praised, shunned, experimented, and adopted the light bulb.

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is hard to imagine living in a world without electricity, especially electric light. But do we ever think about how the first unveiling of this marvel was received by the public. It seemed like magic or the devil's work but regardless it fascinated all who saw it and experienced illumination at night beyond the light of the moon.

This book has chapters that are extremely interesting and others that are deadly boring.....very inconsistent. It is not a book about Thomas Edison but about how electricity changed the world, concentrating on the United States. It is almost a sociological treatise as the author examines the legal, aesthetic, and commercial aspects of the coming of the light, which is not exactly what I expected. Overall, it was a dry read but I finished it and did learn some interesting aspects of the patent and trust fights. This is definitely not a beach read!

[Harold · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is well named. And misleading. It is not a book about Edison. Rather it is about he age of Edison, and thereafter. It is simply a book about the history of the change that Electric Light Bulbs wrought on America.

This book tells almost nothing about individual people, including Edison. It passes lightly over the invention of the lightbulb. It mentions briefly the race between AC and DC current and the problems and politics in the creation of electric grids. It is more interested in the bulb rising in the east and spreading its light across the country.

This book tells you that the invention of the light bulb was profound, but sheds very little light.

[Ernst · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is about 2/3 about the years between 1879, when Edison invented his version of the light bulb, and 1892 when Edison sold out his interest to General Electric which, using alternating current (which Edison never understood) took over as the major player in American electricity. The last 1/3 covers they years up until 1929 when, just weeks before the stock market crash, President Hoover joined other luminaries at Menlo Park to honor Edison on the fiftieth anniversary of his most famous invention.
The book raises many questions about the tradeoffs between the ruthless exploitation of worker safety and the killing of many ordinary citizens versus the benefits of being an electrified country so quickly. Also, even by 1929, the markets had found no way to provide electricity to rural areas -- it took the New Deal and the TVA to get that accomplished. Quick paced and fascinating to read.

[Tanya · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book needed to be edited/shortened considerably.
What could have been an interesting 2-3 hour read, was drug out for 10 hours.
Excruciating.

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are so many puns one can use in this review. And frankly I don't know if I needed this much information on the subject, but it was an interesting and pleasantly lively (for nonfiction) account of how the invention of electricity and its gradual introduction into the world has changed the society. Not much information here on Edison per se ( no bio), this isn't Edison and His Age. This book talks about other inventors who didn't get the to share in the recognition (pun opportunity not taken) or fell into the dark abyss of obscurity (another one), about larger than life expositions, socioeconomical politics of implementing revolutionary new technology, logistics, practical applications, wide eye acceptance and staunch reluctance/refusal to embrace the light, etc. Informative and accessible read.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book filled in a lot of gaps for me. Freeberg lays out the importance of electric light specifically and electricity in general and how they changed our nation. You will notice that the book is about "the age of Edison" not about Edison himself, though Freeberg touches back to Edison from time to time.

I really enjoyed this book aesthetically, as well. It is filled with pictures, scattered throughout and not just in a clump at the middle of the book like so many do. I found the type face pleasant and easy to read too.

All in all, a very enjoyable tour of the birth of electric light in our country.

[Shannon Bench · Rating 1 out of 5]

First of all, I'd like to let you know that I'm a picky reader. I like fantasy, and not just any fantasy, either. It has to be EPIC fantasy for me to even consider reading it for my own leisure. However, this book was assigned to me by a professor and so, to the reading nook I went. All too eager to learn about Edison and his time, about the light bulb and its coming into existence. You know what? I was truly excited for it, too. I love history, always found it fascinating, and after the prologue, I thought, "This book isn't half bad for a textbook." Then I started to read the first chapter... and then the second... and again into the third when I finally gave up.

Is it just me, or do books like this one tend to sound like an enormously long version of an essay? The direct quotes, the citations, the introduction and concluding statements, the move back and forth from one time to another. Why can't books be more interesting as well as actually educational. Just because this stuff happened in the 19th century doesn't mean you can't make it interesting and "story-like" instead of a boring lecture about facts upon facts.

I always hoped that one day I would pick up a text and open the book to find that there was a singular character, maybe even an omniscient one, that told the story of a time or of a person's life. But no, never has that ever happened and I have barely any hope left that it ever will. Intellectual books could be like that, right? They have all the possibility to be like that, but when a writer with no interest in the "story" begins to write a book, I feel that they default to the basics of education: the dreaded essay format. I get that it works, but I still don't find it interesting. At the very least, when writing an essay, I try to add a bit of my own character or even some word-flare that peaks the interest of the reader, making the essay more fun instead of just factual.

Oh, when the day comes that I pick up a textbook and I enter a story that is both exciting and educational. The day will come, at least I hope so, and when it does, I will burn this book and say good riddance.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a tough one to get through. It took me almost two months to read, and that was in large part due to the writing style. I actually love reading nonfiction historical books, and find anything related to American history fascinating so this sounded like a great read. Unfortunately the writing style is very stiff, and I found many of the chapters repetitive. I feel like it could have been half as long and still have gotten the point across. I also didn't appreciate how the story was bookended with jabs at Thomas Edison's contributions to the invention of the light bulb. The author just spent 300 pages telling us how other people contributed to its progress and then has to remind readers that it wasn't all Edison. It felt a little bitter.

Still, there was a lot of interesting backstory about electricity and how it slowly began to be incorporated into American society. I also appreciated how the author demonstrated the different approaches to invention by Americans versus Europeans. I still think it is a fascinating topic but wish that some more editing had happened to shorten and tighten up the book.

[Jake Weber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of this overlapped with a biography of Edison I had read. Was definitely interesting to see how certain aspects of society adapted to electricity and the light - but felt like there was no exploration about how jobs were impacted. We got a lot of detail about how new jobs in the electric industry got stood up and standardized and how it affected some in the oil industry but what about the jobs that disappeared because something could be done with light / electricity? Three may be somewhat unfair, but I had higher hopes for this one.

[Kevin English · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was heroic myth we learned in 2nd grade as American children. We were taught that Thomas Edison, through his hard work and genius, invented the lightbulb. Without his ingenuity, we’d all be sitting in the dark. This book attempts to bulldoze over that fantasy. Edison was just one of many invotators that made electiricity possible.

While this book if full of interesting little tidbits of information and stories, it failed to keep my attention. By trying hard to be an “anti-biography”, the author doesn’t do a great job of creating a compelling narrative that I wanted to return to. I had this on my audiobooks for 2 months and took forever to finish it.

[Jessica Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really great book. Much more than just talking about the invention , it delved into all the facets of life that were affected, and the ways in which things and people were forever changed. Though there were technical aspects , he writes in a way that was engaging and never dry. Loved it

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable overview of the vast change and controversy brought by the invention of electric light. Draws few conclusions but offers material for consideration!

[John Harder · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a reason that the image of person with a light bulb over his head is the universal sign of someone with a bright idea. This is odd when arguably man’s greatest invention is beer. Yet we rarely illustrate brilliance by hovering a Schlitz can over a beaming countenance. Why? Well light and electric power helps us overcome adversity and the environment, beer just helps us to endure it.

The Age of Edison isn’t really about Edison, though he plays a large factor. It is more about the transformation of America and the effect of being able to see after 8:00 PM. After a rash of divorces when spouses saw each other for the first time, ultimately all the effects were positive. This did not keep the doom and gloom group (think Al Gore) from prophesying that electric light would bring about moral degeneracy (people staying out past dark), physical danger (some thought pumping noxious and flammable gas light was safer than electricity) and disintegration of the family (families would not longer gather about the flicking kerosene flame and talk). True the ability to keep late hours has its drawbacks. Nothing wholesome ever happens after 10:00 and if by 1:00 AM you are not at home there is a 90% likelihood that you are doing something of which your mother would not approve...but on a whole I think we must all agree light is good – it says so right in Genesis 1:4.

This is a wonderful snapshot of a short and highly transformative period of history.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

My dad collects Edison records and Edison record players. I grew up mostly associating Edison with his records and record players. I did know he invented the light bulb, but I did not know much more than that. I enjoyed reading about how he invented the light bulb. The best part of the book is learning how the early days of the light bulb changed people's lives. The book covers both the positive and negative impact that electric light had. The wires that were hastily put up on poles were very dangerous and people were injured or killed as a result. There was a lot that still had to be learned about how to safely use this new invention. I enjoyed how the book mentioned how the World's Fair in Chicago and the World's Fair in Buffalo used electric light. The author really did his research because he mentioned Barnes' diving elks and educated horse at the fair in Buffalo.

I read the Nook Book version of this book. I was very impressed with how well the images in the book showed up. They are very clear and I can see so much detail in each image. I highly recommend reading this book. We take for granted the light we have today. This book reminds us how much it has improved our lives by showing what type of lighting was used before the light bulb.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read on the social history of electric lighting. The technology is so obvious now that we forget, or don't realize, that its introduction created a frenzy of adoption exactly like that of the iPhone today, for example. It only took only about five years before most American cities had replaced darkness and feeble gas lamps with the new arc lighting. We think we are somehow special today in our ability to create and consume the "new," but it was exactly the same in the 1880's, and the vast social change that resulted then offers significant lessons for technologists, sociologists and consumers of today, if anyone cares to notice.

[Bob Gustafson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-researched, informative, but boring work, this is a book about the role of electrical light during the gilded age. There is no biographical material about Edison or anybody else. There isn't a historical narrative either. The redeeming value is in the various subtle aspects -- electrical light vs. gaslight, safety in public spaces, electrician as a new career alternative, illuminating rural areas, etc.

If that thrills you, go out and get the book. If not, use your money for something else.

[Brent Burch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating portrait of something everybody takes for granted today, the light bulb and electricity in general. What it must have been like to have lived in this era, where seeing everyday objects lit up for the first time, was treated like something out of science fiction. I love books like this, where we, the reader, get to travel back in time, and relive the wonder of something that was going to transform all of American society. Highly recommended.

[Text Addict · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good synthesis of information about how electric light was invented, promoted, and extended to ever-larger segments of the American public. How people reacted to it - as either a menace or a panacea, and all points in between. The major personal and public safety issues involved. The canonization of Edison as a kind of secular saint of Progress. Very interesting, but rarely revelatory. A solid reference on a period and topic that needed one.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

easily 4 stars. Freeburg takes the scientific discussion of electricity and makes it very relevant to the amateur study of American history. very enjoyable and I learned a lot!

[Michael Kearney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written but lacked soul. It was just the basic facts about some of the story of how electric lights crept into American life.

[Sarah Coller · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Amazon: "The late nineteenth century was a period of explosive technological creativity, but more than any other invention, Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb marked the arrival of modernity, transforming its inventor into a mythic figure and avatar of an era. In The Age of Edison, award-winning author and historian Ernest Freeberg weaves a narrative that reaches from Coney Island and Broadway to the tiniest towns of rural America, tracing the progress of electric light through the reactions of everyone who saw it and capturing the wonder Edison’s invention inspired. It is a quintessentially American story of ingenuity, ambition, and possibility in which the greater forces of progress and change are made by one of our most humble and ubiquitous objects."

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. So much more than I thought I would...and so much that I could probably start from the beginning right now and read the whole thing through again. There was so much to learn and imagine and I know I missed so much being distracted by surgery and a move. I will definitely be keeping it in my collection to go back to from time to time.

The advent of electric lights had such an amazing effect on society. It changed people's sleep patterns, thus changing their entire routines, traditions, and family and social lives. It served to further differentiate between social statuses. It made an impact in so many way that I never could have imagined.

I thought it was interesting that so many species of birds and bugs were discovered as they were found dead at the base of street lights in the mornings. The idea of "electro"hunting and fishing was also interesting.

I was also surprised by how late into the 20th century electricity became common in middle-class homes. Less than 15% of homes were wired for electricity in 1910---and only 70% by 1930.

Other interesting bits:

Pg. 267: "Self-evident today, the proper use of an incandescent lamp is a social practice that, according to one electrician, was misunderstood by 99 percent of Americans in the early twentieth century. Why pay so much for electric light, these customers surely wondered, only to hide it behind a shade or to place it out of the line of sight... Such an idea must have seemed like the scheme of unscrupulous electric-current salesmen eager to sell customers more light than they needed."

Pg. 283: "These changes in technology produced a corresponding change in the way middle-class American families interacted once the sun went down. Some complained that since family members felt less compelled to draw together each night around a common lamp, their bonds had weakened and the art of conversation had suffered. People talked less and read more, as cheaper books and more evening light encouraged the explosive growth of what people at the time called a new 'reading habit.'"

Lastly, I was compelled to ponder the last line of the book and wonder about the actual validity of this quote from Franklin Roosevelt: "Electricity is no longer a luxury, it is a definite necessity."

I wonder---how would our society get by if we no longer had access to electricity?

[Sarah Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This work of non-fiction is a compelling social history that covers the rise of electricity in America and the many ways it transformed the country. In addition to the history of electric light's invention, this book also covers the spread of usage of electric light through the country, and the many changes that occurred as a result including the hours we keep, medical care and surgery, photography, and oceanic exploration.

The title of this book is a bit of a misnomer. While Edison is certainly discussed and played a great role in the rise of electric light, the book does not focus on him. During his time, Edison was a bit of a celebrity and his name represented electricity even when dozens of others were working on the technology so in some ways it does feel fitting that his name graces the cover. Yet this book covers much more than just Edison or his inventions and truly spans the country to discuss the many uses and changes that came about due to the availability of electric light.

This book covered an important invention that transformed American life. I appreciated the author's choice to cover not only the invention of electricity but its ramifications in the decades afterwards. Only as electric light slowly spread across the country and its uses continued to grow could the reader begin to grasp the true magnitude of the shift of life before and after electrical life became available to the public.

From a novelty invention to a practical solution to illuminate individuals' homes and dark streets, light truly transformed America in the late nineteenth century. To first illuminating Christmas trees in 1884 to making it possible for surgeons to see inside their patients as they operated, there is little about life today that this invention hasn't touched. Although early its progress was slowed by rural settings and unsafe regulations that saw hundreds of wires sticking out of one pole and opened many up to accidental electrocution, the practice became increasingly widespread and "70 percent of homes [were] wired by 1930" (289). "And by all its multitude uses it has lengthened the hours of our active lives, decreased our fears, replaced the dark with good cheer, increased our safety, decreased our toil, and enabled us to read the type in the telephone book" (309).

[Cam's Corner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ernest Freeberg’s The Age of Edison focuses on electric light and how it transformed not only the United States as well as other nations. Using Edison’s Menlo Park demonstration as a jumping point, Freeberg explores how electric lights reshaped the country and analyzes how various groups reacted. For some, this artificial light was a game-changer. Not only were individuals able to see their favorite baseball teams at night, they also felt safe walking the streets late after the game. People were able to continue writing or reading after hours in their homes without the awful smell of gas. For others, the introduction of light contributed more harm than good. Freeberg explores the conflict that arose from the rise of light, from gas companies fighting to maintain their monopoly to “medical experts who blamed electric light for an alarming growth in ‘defective eyes’” (266). He also takes the time to explain the number of unintended consequences of this new invention such as birds flying into exposed wires and linemen unfortunately meeting the same fate. Freeberg expands on the important connection between technology and society.

The one segment the author had the opportunity to expand a little bit more on is the contribution of Lewis Latimer. Latimer was an African American inventor who not only contributed to the improvement of carbon filaments but also worked alongside Thomas Edison himself. Although Freeberg makes it very clear that “black inventors made significant contributions despite their obvious disadvantages in education and opportunity” (223), it would’ve been nice if he would’ve mentioned at least one Black figure who has been largely forgotten. He makes a random note that Edison included Francis Jehl “the lone survivor among Edison’s partners in the Menlo Park experiments'' (306) at his celebration in Michigan, but did not bother to briefly mention the man who “guided Edison through the process of filing patent forms properly at the U.S. Patent Office.” While Freeberg does a great job of mentioning how technological advances affected perceptions of government and labor, it would have been interesting (and insightful) to see his thoughts incorporating Black sources and viewpoints on these advancements instead of racist white-owned newspapers (223).

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I slowly read this one after purchasing it in the Kindle store. Thanks feels sort of funny within the connect of modern light technology---I spent my time reading most of the book in the near-dark because of my device's backlit screen.

I think it's a bit hard to read continuously, and worked better for me in segments. There's coverage of accidents, safely improvements, the development of the EE field and profession, and more importantly (and interestingly for me) what the introduction and later improvements of electric lighting did to people and their spaces. The street, there factory, the home. Freeburg shapes his chapters topically so you can move from one bit to another depending on your interest. I'm sure not everyone is going to want to read the professionalization chapter. There are sections within chapters examining era reformer and critical responses as well.

The book goes up until the 1930s when electric lighting became more widespread (not just a city thing). Edison himself gets a big celebration thrown by Ford, and a keynote by President Hoover.... and he is so tired of electricity, but he acknowledges that HE DID NOT INVENT THE LIGHT BULB ON HIS OWN. The competition to improve the bulb, to make it a marketable product, that was his feat. Dozens of inventors contributed to the development of the incandescent light bulb, and Edison got lucky enough to have his name written largest in history because he created a model which fit the public's need and wallet. This book is not his story, it is the electric light's history from Edison's success to his want for a nice camping trip and a nap after all the excitement.

Edison and Ford used to go on yearly "escape modern life" camping trips.....with cars full of tech.....alright then.

Critique: a bit too long, perhaps too many examples. I recommend skipping chapters that do not interest you.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Electricity is such an ingrained part of our lives that we rarely think of it, unless we happen - temporarily, God willing - to be without it. So it's hard to imagine the entire world before electric lights - the sheer and utter darkness that enveloped everyone and everything from sundown to sunup. Obviously, then, the arrival of electricity was the one of the seminal events of their lives for millions across the world.

Ernest Freeberg works hard to make the reader feel the excitement caused by the electrification of America (with the occasional visit across the pond to England, France, and Germany). He traces the arrival of light from the various oils to gas to, finally, the incandescent light bulb. (Sidenote: Thomas Edison was 32 when he invented the incandescent light bulb. I learned this in the opening pages of Freeberg's The Age of Edison and spent the rest of the book feeling only slightly inconsequential.)

Electricity was not without controversy as the electric companies, in the era of robber barons, worked to part individuals and municipalities alike from their money as quickly as possible, often while stringing miles of dangerously hung wires. Americans of the day were treated to regular news headlines of men, children, even horses electrocuted by a dangling or fallen wire.

The Age of Edison is an interesting read, though slightly dry, and rather too technical at times. Freeberg notes at one point that, "Few in the public could follow the heated, technical, and contradictory claims made by the rival companies...or the bickering between city inspectors..." I know the feeling.

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just before I started this book, I completed The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World" by Randall E. Stross. In that book it had a theme like - "we came to bury Caesar (Edison) not praise him".
That book showed how flawed and over-hyped the great inventor was as Americans blindly worshiped the man.
This book concentrates on the huge wave of progress and development that followed the clear development of a working light bulb that opened up numerous policies and paths forward.
The ridiculous mistakes that were made and the crazy accidents involved in the reckless handling over the high voltage are highlighted. I was simply unaware of the intense competition between American cities and towns to hastily install municipal lighting to show off their sophistication as other nations gaped in awe. Someone had to be first, so why not the hungry and ambitious Americans?
Just before I completed this book, I visited the U.S. National Park Service site in N.J.
The Thomas Edison National Historical Park preserves Thomas Edison's laboratory and residence, Glenmont, in West Orange, New Jersey, United States. His lab is well worth a visit and this book is well worth a read.

[Root_rambler · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was initially worried that reading this book along with "The End of Night" by Paul Bogard would result in reading a lot of the same information twice, but despite the fact that they were both about light and night, there was almost no overlap. This was a historical account of the time from the dawn of the electric light through the 1920s/1930s. The other was an account of the author's adventures as he looked for the darkest remaining places on Earth shortly before 2013. In fact, I thought that book could have used more grounding in the history shared in this one, but they were both published in 2013 so I guess that wasn't possible.

This was a solid historical account and full of useful details, but I wanted more 'so-what' takeaway/analysis. Guess that wasn't what this book was trying to be, but especially in light of new research about light & our eyes this book seems very relevant to our present as well as our past. I had never really thought about what it was like to live through the time when electric light rapidly spread around the globe- what it was like before, and after, how many lives it changed, etc. It seems that that time was in some ways analogous to our own in terms of technology? Very interesting.

[Jim Gulley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conventional history credits Thomas Edison with inventing the light bulb in his Menlo Park lab, filing a patent in 1879. Freeberg argued that the invention was not solely the work product of Edison, but that it was the culmination of scientific discoveries over a long period of time, the efforts of his staff, and the capital provided by investors. He also argued that the invention of incandescent light played a fundamental role in the Industrial Revolution and shaped the modern world.

The depiction of Edison in historical memory as a genius, tinkering in solitude, and inventing revolutionary products fits the Gilded Age persona of the American hero: a rugged individualist thriving in an entrepreneurial culture of freedom. Freeberg dispels this notion by well-researching his thesis, yet maintains Edison’s dignity and proper place in the annals of American innovation and entrepreneurship. The electric light permeated every facet of life during this period. Freeberg’s book highlights the depth and breadth of those inventions on enabling the Industrial Revolution and creating the modern world.

[Kevin Whitaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly quick read with a few core theses -- that Edison was just the tip of the iceberg of research done to invent electric light (with a role inflated by his status and perhaps Americans' desire to claim the invention as their own), that commercialization of the idea was more critical than the invention itself, and that it led to many other inventions or adaptations that changed life considerably. But it didn't feel like any of these points was developed as richly as it could have been, and it often felt like I was reading sort of random lists of what happened and how.

Some fun facts:
- Edison didn't actually invent the light bulb, but he invented the first design that would be stable and scalable enough to be widely adopted
- In 1885 some Yale students chopped down the first electric light pole on campus because they believed it ruined their privacy when going on dates in public
- Mass advertising and electric lighting came of age at the same time, leading to a massive number of gaudy lighted signs advertising stores or shows (and then a backlash against their ugliness)