Thomas Edison: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 14:39, 1 December 2015

Claimed- Jacob Carlton

Thomas Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an inventor and businessman. He is most well known for the invention of the long-lasting practical light bulb. He holds 1,093 US patents in his name, as well as other patents abroad. He had only 3 months of official schooling and was self-educated for the rest of his childhood. He began his career as an inventor in Newark, New Jersey where he gained fame from his invention of the phonograph. His work was so widely accepted that the president of the National Academy of Sciences acclaimed his as "the most ingenious inventor in this country... or in any other".

Invention of the Light Bulb

In January of 1880 Edison acquired the patent for the light bulb. He envisioned a company that would would literally enlighten the world and replace the kerosene lamps in the average home. Therefore, Edison founded the Edison Illuminating Company which later became General Electric. He developed a fierce rivalry with Nikola Tesla, another visionary inventor, who had developed the method of electricity through alternating current as opposed to Edison's direct current. The two waged a publicity war over which form of electricity was more effective.

Direct Current vs. Alternating Current

As electricity began to rise in popularity, consumers were faced with the option of Edison's direct current method of electricity and Tesla's alternating current. Edison's direct current could only service costumers who were within a mile of the power plant while alternating current systems operated at a much higher voltage and could reach a larger area. To combat this Edison began to publicly attack alternating current systems claiming that the higher voltage was too dangerous. This coupled with the rising number of fatalities due to the infancy of the electrical industry. This war grew to be rather morbid as Edison went as far as to publicly electrocute an elephant to show the fatal power of alternating current. However Edison's stockholders were not pleased with his efforts and he was forced to leave Edison Illuminating Company.

End Career

In his final years Edison worked on many projects for automobile tycoon Henry Ford. The projects he worked on included electric trains to finding a domestic source for natural rubber. He was over 80 years old when he applied for the last of his 1,093 patents. Edison died on October 18, 1931 at the age of 84. He left a legacy as leading America's technological revolution and building the nation's economy into a global superpower.

Fun Facts

Tesla originally worked for Edison and proposed the idea of alternating current and was shot down by Edison who said it would never be widely accepted like direct current would.

Edison Illuminating Company was financed by J.P. Morgan who forced Edison to leave his own company after he performed a hostile takeover.

J.P. Morgan purchased the patent to alternating current after threatening to run Tesla out of business in an extent legal battle. Morgan then built General Electric using alternating current.

References

http://www.biography.com/people/thomas-edison-9284349#industrialist-and-business-manager http://www.thomasedison.com/biography.html http://www.nps.gov/edis/learn/historyculture/edison-biography.htm

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Thomas Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an inventor and businessman.  He is most well known for the invention of the long-lasting practical light bulb. He holds 1,093 US patents in his name, as well as other patents abroad.  He had only 3 months of official schooling and was self-educated for the rest of his childhood.
+Claimed- Jacob Carlton
-==Early Career==
+Thomas Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an inventor and businessman.  He is most well known for the invention of the long-lasting practical light bulb. He holds 1,093 US patents in his name, as well as other patents abroad.  He had only 3 months of official schooling and was self-educated for the rest of his childhood.  He began his career as an inventor in Newark, New Jersey where he gained fame from his invention of the phonograph.  His work was so widely accepted that the president of the National Academy of Sciences acclaimed his as "the most ingenious inventor in this country... or in any other".
+[[File:Thomas Edison.jpg]]
+==Invention of the Light Bulb==
-State, in your own words, the main idea for this topic
+In January of 1880 Edison acquired the patent for the light bulb.  He envisioned a company that would would literally enlighten the world and replace the kerosene lamps in the average home.  Therefore, Edison founded the Edison Illuminating Company which later became General Electric.
-Electric Field of Capacitor
+He developed a fierce rivalry with Nikola Tesla, another visionary inventor, who had developed the method of electricity through alternating current as opposed to Edison's direct current.  The two waged a publicity war over which form of electricity was more effective.
-===A Mathematical Model===
+==Direct Current vs. Alternating Current==
-What are the mathematical equations that allow us to model this topic.  For example <math>{\frac{d\vec{p}}{dt}}_{system} = \vec{F}_{net}</math> where '''p''' is the momentum of the system and '''F''' is the net force from the surroundings.
+As electricity began to rise in popularity, consumers were faced with the option of Edison's direct current method of electricity and Tesla's alternating current.  Edison's direct current could only service costumers who were within a mile of the power plant while alternating current systems operated at a much higher voltage and could reach a larger area.
+To combat this Edison began to publicly attack alternating current systems claiming that the higher voltage was too dangerous.  This coupled with the rising number of fatalities due to the infancy of the electrical industry.  This war grew to be rather morbid as Edison went as far as to publicly electrocute an elephant to show the fatal power of alternating current.
+However Edison's stockholders were not pleased with his efforts and he was forced to leave Edison Illuminating Company.
-===A Computational Model===
+==End Career==
-How do we visualize or predict using this topic. Consider embedding some vpython code here [https://trinket.io/glowscript/31d0f9ad9e Teach hands-on with GlowScript]
+In his final years Edison worked on many projects for automobile tycoon Henry Ford.  The projects he worked on included electric trains to finding a domestic source for natural rubber.  He was over 80 years old when he applied for the last of his 1,093 patents.  Edison died on October 18, 1931 at the age of 84.  He left a legacy as leading America's technological revolution and building the nation's economy into a global superpower.
-==Examples==
+==Fun Facts==
-Be sure to show all steps in your solution and include diagrams whenever possible
+Tesla originally worked for Edison and proposed the idea of alternating current and was shot down by Edison who said it would never be widely accepted like direct current would.
-===Simple===
+Edison Illuminating Company was financed by J.P. Morgan who forced Edison to leave his own company after he performed a hostile takeover.
-===Middling===
-===Difficult===
-==Connectedness==
+J.P. Morgan purchased the patent to alternating current after threatening to run Tesla out of business in an extent legal battle.  Morgan then built General Electric using alternating current.
-#How is this topic connected to something that you are interested in?
-#How is it connected to your major?
-#Is there an interesting industrial application?
-==History==
-Put this idea in historical context. Give the reader the Who, What, When, Where, and Why.
-== See also ==
-Are there related topics or categories in this wiki resource for the curious reader to explore?  How does this topic fit into that context?
-===Further reading===
-Books, Articles or other print media on this topic
-===External links===
-Internet resources on this topic
 ==References==
-This section contains the the references you used while writing this page
+http://www.biography.com/people/thomas-edison-9284349#industrialist-and-business-manager
+http://www.thomasedison.com/biography.html
+http://www.nps.gov/edis/learn/historyculture/edison-biography.htm
 [[Category:Which Category did you place this in?]]