Inventing the Future: A Photobiography of Thomas Alva Edison

Photobiographies

by Marfe Ferguson Delano

Thomas Edison?s 1,093 patented inventions include the light bulb, the phonograph, and significant contributions to the fields of photography and filmmaking and to what ultimately would become the national power grid. Edison?s gritty way of persevering?working ?round the clock with many assistants, catnapping on his lab table, trying things over and over again until he finally made a breakthrough?gave birth to the modern research laboratory, where hypotheses are proposed and then tested. Combining lively text, rare period photographs, and Edison?s own words, Delano paints a memorable portrait of this prolific American genius. The foreword by Edison?s great-grandson adds a personal note to this exciting American success story that will spark kids? interest in science and inspire a new generation of inventors.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, History, Biography, Picture Books, Childrens

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Cala · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this photobiography of Thomas Edison. It was what a biography should be: full of facts, lots of photos and sketches, no narrative. It made me realize how recently he lived! I think it would appeal to upper elementary children to adults.

[Xiaoting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inventing the Future
This book has high value for children to know Thomas Alva Edison. This book presents a biography of the tireless Thomas Edison, illustrated with many photos of his life and inventions. This is a good biography book.

Thomas Edison frequently worked through the night and caught catnaps on his lab table during the day. Edison brought his work home—and even nicknamed two of his kids “Dot” and “Dash” after Morse-code symbols. He worked practically until the day he died, punching his lab time clock nearly every day.

This book is very reliable. Those real photos of Edison show us the real Edison. We can see the photo that he worked in his laboratory table. We can see the photo that he sat with his two kids. We can see the photo of his young. We can see the photos that the house he lived. Many different photos show us the different aspects of Edison. We can also see some famous sentences, such as “Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” In this book, we also can see some handwriting and notebook of Edison. This is very precious. This book has high value for children. There is a chronology. This record the invention of Edison according to the year. We can found different year that Edison invented different invention. That is so great!

I really like this book!

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

The value of this book is not in the writing but in the photographs. The photos show Edison's working laboratories, his assistants and the original versions of may of his inventions. Photos that show Edison sleeping on a lab bench or eating with his staff at a laboratory table confirm his famous quote that "Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspirations". The book repeatedly sends the message that an idea is turned into a usable inventions only after hard hard work, and often months or years of building a working model, testing and remodeling, and testing again. Older elementary students who are doing biography reports will need to read a longer book to learn more about Thomas Edison and his impact on modern life but this book and especially the photographs will help the student to put his life and achievements the context of science and life in the late 19th century.

[Marni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to check this out again just to find this quote (didn't put it in a good enough spot last time):

"My job has been always to take care of Mr. Edison... And we have tried to organize our home and our home life to give results just as much as the laboratory." --Mina Edison

[Heloyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without question the most interesting stories are those of real people. This concise biography of this unusual man illustrates the passion that drives a person to accomplish great things...not easily but with continued work. The pictures are fascinating.

[Afsana · Rating 5 out of 5]

really nice inventions

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

definitely too much text to read everything--but we did like to look at the photographs of lots of Thomas Edison's inventions.

[Javier Chua · Rating 5 out of 5]

great learning of Edison

[Lai Chunyuan]

It is very good to see this book.

[Mao Mao · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It describes how Thomas invented things, what he used, and how many times he and his workmen failed.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick but in depth look at the life of Thomas Alva Edison. The pictures were fascinating!

[Favour · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very enjoyable. I'm surprised all those pictures were taken of him.