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Thomas A. Edison
Conot has captured the details of Edison's much publicized and celebrated scientific endeavors as well as the unpopular personal and business life. This is a well-written chronological story presenting a very `real' Edison beyond the typical school book lessons. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. interested in a more complete picture of Edison's life.
608 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
3 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Robert E. Conot
11 books2 followersRobert Ernst Conot was an American journalist and historian. He is the author of a 1967 book on the Watts Riots (Rivers of Blood, Years of Darkness). The report caught the attention of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, which appointed him to edit the historical section of the commission's report. Conot is also known for a biography of Thomas Edison that was among the first works to take issue with the "Edison myth" (A Streak of Luck). He also wrote a comprehensive volume on the Nuremberg Trials, Justice at Nuremberg.
It was after his work on the Kerner Commission that Conot wrote American Odyssey: A Unique History of America Told Through the Life of a Great City (1974), a history of Detroit from its 1701 beginning until 1970, detailing the social and community struggles – problems and successes – of America's biggest boom town, until the begin of its fall.
It was after his work on the Kerner Commission that Conot wrote American Odyssey: A Unique History of America Told Through the Life of a Great City (1974), a history of Detroit from its 1701 beginning until 1970, detailing the social and community struggles – problems and successes – of America's biggest boom town, until the begin of its fall.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 18, 2025
Fascinating story of Thomas Alva Edison’s life and inventions, of which there were many. The scientific field was wide open in the late 1800s. Humans had just invented telegrams but were still lacking in electricity, phonographs, projectors, telephones, and motion pictures, to name a few. Edison was a brilliant man with a vast imagination. He lacked any business sense and lived by the rule that inventing was better than getting rich. Every dime he earned, he invested in more equipment and experiments, sometimes living in his makeshift labs and sacrificing his health. In his later years, he did acquire some wealth but could never manage it and was therefore still in debt on and off throughout his life.
Inventing wasn’t a steady-paying, or even a safe job. There were explosions, accidents, sleepless nights, and grueling pressure to succeed. There was also a lot of competition. The other names mentioned in this detailed and comprehensive biography are Bell, Eastman, Westinghouse, and Ford. It seemed that Edition submitted hundreds, if not thousands, of patents only to have many of them challenged, often requiring many exhausting and costly lawsuits.
I learned from this book that invention does not, by and large, come by a sudden flash of genius, but is a process carried out over years, sometimes by more than one inventor. Ideas overlap, as does the battle fatigue experienced by failures. Edison started many projects that lay abandoned for years before he revisited them and finally found success. Many of his colleagues died of explosions in the lab or cancer from using caustic chemicals in experiments. But it was the experiments that led from one thing to another, sometimes leading to an accidental discovery. Since he lived to be 84, it seems Edison appeared at the right time in history and was the right man for the job.
Inventing wasn’t a steady-paying, or even a safe job. There were explosions, accidents, sleepless nights, and grueling pressure to succeed. There was also a lot of competition. The other names mentioned in this detailed and comprehensive biography are Bell, Eastman, Westinghouse, and Ford. It seemed that Edition submitted hundreds, if not thousands, of patents only to have many of them challenged, often requiring many exhausting and costly lawsuits.
I learned from this book that invention does not, by and large, come by a sudden flash of genius, but is a process carried out over years, sometimes by more than one inventor. Ideas overlap, as does the battle fatigue experienced by failures. Edison started many projects that lay abandoned for years before he revisited them and finally found success. Many of his colleagues died of explosions in the lab or cancer from using caustic chemicals in experiments. But it was the experiments that led from one thing to another, sometimes leading to an accidental discovery. Since he lived to be 84, it seems Edison appeared at the right time in history and was the right man for the job.
January 8, 2024
A difficult book to evaluate, this story of the life of Thomas Alva Edison provides all the greatest hits of this singular American life: the light bulb, phonograph and his electric and movie monopolies. Edison's often shocking ability to care about others including his family stands out clearly. What's missing is any sense of a story, the overarching narrative all good biographies provide. Absent that, Conot flails as he tells this story. The result is too much a chronology and not a real life. Three and a half stars.
June 23, 2018
A really readable Edison biography full of insights into the man. Not always the most accurate historically though.
November 3, 2016
A Streak of Luck: The Life & Legend of Thomas Alva Edison by Robert Conot. The main character in this story is Thomas Alva Edison and in this story it goes through all of his struggles from being a child all the way through being an adult. I found this book by searching for famous inventors and I found Thomas Edison to be very interesting so I searched my school library for a book on him and I found this one. I was surprised by what I read in this book.
Thomas Edison was a very intelligent man but he never learned how to act like a proper man he would complain and cause problems for many people. Throughout his whole life he had come across many problems and he would solve some of them and lose to others it was an up and down cycle with him he could never stay on one level. As a young man he would cause trouble for himself by being an insulant little brat and complaining about every miniscule thing. It got very annoying after a while. He loved to invent new contraptions that would help people but he was not a very kind guy in the process. For one thing he made a lightbulb that would only work on DC (direct current) and he made a special generator to power that new lightbulb but that was not the problem. The problem was that he sold the light’s for cheaper what they cost to make and they had to buy his generator to make them work which cost an unreasonable amount of money.
My favorite quote from the biography of Thomas Edison was “I’m a heathen!” found on pg.451.
I like this quote because at the end of Thomas Edison’s life he realizes what he has done and how wrong he was for doing so, he was caught up in his moments of fame and glory and did not realize the problems he was causing so many people around the U.S.. This one quote shows that not only does Thomas Edison know what he has done but, he realizes how it impacted so many people around him. This also changed people's outlook on him, no long seeing him as a great and intelligent inventor but instead as a rotten inventor who only seeks fame and glory.
I believe that Thomas A. Edison was a good man but through the many moments in his life where he was praised for his inventions he slowly turned into a genius who wanted more than praise. I think that if he had not have been corrupted and obsessed by greed he could have worked with other great minds and came up with better ideas that we might still use to this day. Another book that might also peek your interest is Edison: A Biography by Matthew Josephson. Other people that might like to read this book are people who are fascinated by historical inventors in time.
Thomas Edison was a very intelligent man but he never learned how to act like a proper man he would complain and cause problems for many people. Throughout his whole life he had come across many problems and he would solve some of them and lose to others it was an up and down cycle with him he could never stay on one level. As a young man he would cause trouble for himself by being an insulant little brat and complaining about every miniscule thing. It got very annoying after a while. He loved to invent new contraptions that would help people but he was not a very kind guy in the process. For one thing he made a lightbulb that would only work on DC (direct current) and he made a special generator to power that new lightbulb but that was not the problem. The problem was that he sold the light’s for cheaper what they cost to make and they had to buy his generator to make them work which cost an unreasonable amount of money.
My favorite quote from the biography of Thomas Edison was “I’m a heathen!” found on pg.451.
I like this quote because at the end of Thomas Edison’s life he realizes what he has done and how wrong he was for doing so, he was caught up in his moments of fame and glory and did not realize the problems he was causing so many people around the U.S.. This one quote shows that not only does Thomas Edison know what he has done but, he realizes how it impacted so many people around him. This also changed people's outlook on him, no long seeing him as a great and intelligent inventor but instead as a rotten inventor who only seeks fame and glory.
I believe that Thomas A. Edison was a good man but through the many moments in his life where he was praised for his inventions he slowly turned into a genius who wanted more than praise. I think that if he had not have been corrupted and obsessed by greed he could have worked with other great minds and came up with better ideas that we might still use to this day. Another book that might also peek your interest is Edison: A Biography by Matthew Josephson. Other people that might like to read this book are people who are fascinated by historical inventors in time.
October 2, 2008
Very informative and in depth... a little too much for my taste. Basically Edison was a genius who acted like a bastard most of the time. Stroke of genius, bastardly act, stroke of genius, bastardly act. I made it about 2/3 through the book before I got bored.
Currently reading
March 24, 2008Biography of one of Thomas Edison - so much more than just "that light-bulb dude."
July 10, 2008
This book will really make you feel like a slacker. Thomas Edison, everyone should read this,
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews