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Thomas Alva Edison: Inventor
Details the life and work of Thomas Edison, who developed the electric light bulb and over 1000 patents for other inventions and innovations.
128 pages, Library Binding
First published September 1, 1998
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January 20, 2011
We had to read a biography for book club this month and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about this man. I have to admit, there were bigger books out there on this guy, but the Jr. Non-Fiction section is about all I can handle with a new baby around.
Things I loved about this man:
He invented tons of things that make our lives nicer. He improved the telephone so that it had an ear piece AND a mouthpiece so that you did not have to move the Speaker/microphone back and forth from mouth to ear... which was nothing short of genius! He invented the lightbulb, but more importantly he figured out how to get power to homes and businesses so they could actually use the lightbulb. General electric, Bonneville Power, and Rocky Mountain Power, etc are all based on the first power company he set up in New York city. He even found a way to make rubber domestically in case we enter another war and cannot import rubber.
As I first started reading the book I was thinking: "What kind of guy can actually quit his job and make a living at inventing?" Seriously I had images of the absent minded professor who made stuff but never did anything with it. After reading this I realized that his greatest invention was the invention lab, or as we would know it... the research and development lab of a technical company. He set out to invent things that would be useful to people and he knew how to market these things and how to make them available. For instance, the lightbulb was amazing, but without electricity in homes, it was useless. He really laid an enormous foundation for society today. All technical companies these days are based on the business model he set up.
What an amazing man! I am glad I came across his biography at the library.
Things I loved about this man:
He invented tons of things that make our lives nicer. He improved the telephone so that it had an ear piece AND a mouthpiece so that you did not have to move the Speaker/microphone back and forth from mouth to ear... which was nothing short of genius! He invented the lightbulb, but more importantly he figured out how to get power to homes and businesses so they could actually use the lightbulb. General electric, Bonneville Power, and Rocky Mountain Power, etc are all based on the first power company he set up in New York city. He even found a way to make rubber domestically in case we enter another war and cannot import rubber.
As I first started reading the book I was thinking: "What kind of guy can actually quit his job and make a living at inventing?" Seriously I had images of the absent minded professor who made stuff but never did anything with it. After reading this I realized that his greatest invention was the invention lab, or as we would know it... the research and development lab of a technical company. He set out to invent things that would be useful to people and he knew how to market these things and how to make them available. For instance, the lightbulb was amazing, but without electricity in homes, it was useless. He really laid an enormous foundation for society today. All technical companies these days are based on the business model he set up.
What an amazing man! I am glad I came across his biography at the library.
Displaying 1 of 1 review