Biography of Thomas Edison - photos, quotes, inventions, interesting facts, success story. Impractical inventor Thomas Edison: biography of a stubborn scientist

Born February 11, 1847 great inventor Thomas Alva Edison. We remember ten technical achievements that immortalized the name of an American engineer

2014-02-11 10:05

This one was born legendary man in the USA in Ohio on February 11, 1847. Edison received his first patent at the age of 22. Over the course of 62 years, Thomas Edison received 1,033 patents in the United States alone and 1,200 patents in other countries. The researchers calculated that, on average, a scientist received a new patent every two weeks. Despite the fact that many of his inventions were not unique, he often sued other inventors whose ideas he was guided by. At the same time, marketing skills and its influence often helped to win.

Electric meter

Edison's first invention, for which he received a patent in 1869, was an electric election counter. The device was a vote counting machine on which deputies had to press “for” and “against” buttons. This is how the general counting of votes took place.

Edison's friend Dewitt Roberts showed interest in the device, bought it for $100 and took it to Washington. But, according to parliamentarians, his counter was absolutely useless for holding elections. So the device was sent to the political cemetery.

Currently, such devices are used in almost all countries and greatly facilitate the work of election commissions.

Electric chair

One of Edison's inventions that changed history was the electric chair.

There have been long discussions in government and society about the death penalty. Thomas Edison, with his speech, was able to convince everyone that the best and most humane punishment would be the electric chair.

Against all odds, Edison was able to buy alternating current generators. On January 1, 1889, the chair was ready. The first person on death row in the electric chair was William Kemmler, convicted of murdering his wife with an ax. Subsequently, since 1896, the death penalty by electric chair was adopted by a number of other states, where a similar method of punishment was also allowed.

Stencil pen

In 1876, Edison patented a pneumatic pen pistol. The device used a rod with a tip in the form of a steel needle to perforate printed paper. This pen was the first effective means for copying documents.

On its basis, in 1891, tattoo artist Samuel O'Reilly was the first to patent a tattoo machine. He made only one such device and used it for personal purposes.

After developing his own tattoo machine, many circus performers and representatives of the entertainment industry became regulars at his O’Reilly house. The machine worked faster than a normal tattoo artist's hand, and, as many thought, it gave a clean result. After O'Reilly's death in 1908, one of the master's students bought the machine and worked on Coney Island until the 50s.

Fruit preservation method

In 1881, Edison patented a method for preserving fruits, vegetables and other organic foods in glass containers. The products were placed in a container, after which the air had to be pumped out of it with a special pump. The tube was then closed with a piece of glass.

Edison's invention was inspired by experiments with glass vacuum tubes during the development of incandescent lamps.

Edison is also credited with another invention related to food products- wax paper. But in fact, it was created in France in 1851, when Edison was still a child.

Electric car

Edison was confident that the future belonged to electricity. In his opinion, everything should be equipped with it, even cars.

In 1899, he invents alkaline batteries, which were to form the basis of electric vehicles. In 1900, 28% of cars produced in America ran on electricity. But main goal The scientist was developing a battery that would allow him to travel more than 150 kilometers without recharging.

After 10 years, Edison abandoned his idea, as the abundance of gasoline minimized the need for electric vehicles.

Phonograph

On February 19, 1878, Edison received a patent for the phonograph. It was one of the first devices used to reproduce and record sound.

The first recordings were made with a moving needle on foil, which was located on a rotating cylinder. The cost of a phonograph at that time was $18. Having presented his invention to the public, Edison gained fame. It was also presented at the French Academy and at the White House.

The disc version of the phonograph was released in 1912 and became more popular than previous models.

Mimeograph

In 1876, Thomas Edison patented the mimeograph. The device was used for printing and duplicating books in small editions. But working with him was not easy.

The mimeograph consisted of an electric pen and a copy box. Inside the box were the necessary supplies: a rubber roller and cans of paint.

First, I had to write the text using an electric pen.

A pen, inside of which a thin needle was constantly moving, “stuffed” a dotted pattern onto special paper, creating a matrix. The resulting stencil was fixed in a lid frame and covered with printing ink. Under the frame there was a special box with a platform. By lifting the frame on its hinges and placing a sheet of paper on the platform, it was possible to roll the frame with a rubber roller and obtain a print. At the same time, the paint appeared through the matrix, leaving an autograph.

Edison's invention was actively used by Russian revolutionaries.

Incandescent lamp

Another great invention appeared during the development of the incandescent electric lamp. To create the filament, the most different materials, But for a long time attempts did not bring the desired results.

In April 1879, the inventor established the critical importance of vacuum in the manufacture of lamps. On October 21 of the same year the work was completed. The final version used a charred bamboo thread placed in an airless space to create light.

Similar experiments were carried out in parallel by scientists from many countries. But it was Edison who was able to create a source of electric light, the production of which did not require large expenses.

Kinetoscope

The Kinetoscope was patented on July 31, 1891. It was a large box with an eyepiece. Inside there was a system of reels with stretched film and lighting. Through the eyepiece, the viewer could watch a film lasting no more than half a minute.

Before the advent of film projectors, Edison's invention was in demand. In 1894, the inventor opened a special hall with ten kinetoscopes. Anyone could watch films there by paying 25 cents.

Unfortunately, only one person could watch the film using the Kinetoscope. Therefore, as soon as film projectors appeared, which made it possible for many people to watch a film at once, they quickly replaced kinetoscopes.

Telephone membrane

The carbon telephone membrane was one of Thomas Edison's many inventions that never gained popularity, but laid the foundation for the era of telephony.

Unfortunately, little is known about this invention. But you can imagine it based on modern analogues.

The device was enclosed in a kind of box, inside it there was a membrane itself and a carbon block, in which several cutouts were made and coal powder was poured into them. This design was connected to electrical circuit, one end was a carbon membrane, and the other was the same block and carbon powder was a component of this chain. A microphone and speaker were also connected to the circuit. When speaking into a microphone, the membrane either narrowed or expanded depending on the strength of the sound and changed the voltage, which in turn went to the speaker and reproduced the sounds just spoken.

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In 1804, a son, Samuel Jr., was born into the family of John Samuel's eldest son. future father Thomas A. Edison. In 1811, not far from what is now Port Barwell in Canada, the Edison family received a large plot of land and finally settled in the village of Vienna. In 1812-1814, Captain Samuel Edison Sr., the future grandfather of Thomas Alva, took part in the Anglo-American War. In subsequent years, the Edison family prospered, and their hospitable manor on the river bank was known throughout the area.

In 1828, Samuel Jr. married Nancy Eliot, the daughter of a minister who received a good upbringing and education and worked as a teacher at the Vienna School. In 1837 in Canada, under the influence economic crisis and a failed harvest, a rebellion broke out, in which Samuel Jr. took part. However, government troops suppressed the rebellion and Samuel was forced to flee to Mylan (Ohio, USA) to avoid punishment. In 1839, he manages to transport Nancy and her children. Edison's business was going well. It was during this period of Edison's life in Mailan that his son Thomas Alva was born (February 11, 1847).

Childhood

Al - as Thomas Alva was called in childhood, was short and looked a little frail. However, he was very interested in the life around him: he watched steamships and barges, carpenters at work, boats being lowered at the shipyard, or sat quietly for hours in a corner, copying the inscriptions on warehouse signs. At the age of five, Al visited Vienna with his parents and met his grandfather. In 1854, the Edisons moved to Port Huron, Michigan, located at the bottom of Lake Huron. Here Alva during three months attended school. His teachers considered him "limited." His mother took him out of school and gave him his first education.

Edison often visited the Port Huron People's Library. Before the age of twelve, he managed to read Gibbon's History of the Rise and Decline of the Roman Empire, Hume's History of Great Britain, and Burton's History of the Reformation. However, the future inventor read his first scientific book at the age of nine. It was "Natural and Experimental Philosophy" by Richard Greene Parker, which told almost all the scientific and technical information of the time. Over time, he carried out almost all the experiments indicated in the book.

Since childhood, Edison helped his mother sell fruits and vegetables. However, the pocket money earned in this way was not enough for his experiments, especially chemical ones. Therefore, in 1859, Thomas got a job as a newspaperman on the railroad line connecting Port Huron and Detroit. Young Edison's earnings reached 8-10 dollars a month ($1000-1300 in 2014 prices). He continues to be interested in books and chemical experiments, for which he seeks permission to set up his laboratory in the baggage car of a train.

Edison took every opportunity to increase demand for the newspapers he sold. So, when in 1862 the commander-in-chief of the northern army suffered a serious defeat, Thomas asks the telegraph operator to transmit short message about the battle at Port Huron and all intermediate stations. As a result, he managed to increase newspaper sales at these stations several times. A little later he becomes the publisher of the first train newspaper. It was also during this time that Edison developed an interest in electricity.

In August 1862, Edison saved the son of the head of one of the stations from a moving carriage. The boss offered to teach him telegraphy in gratitude. This is how he became acquainted with the telegraph. He immediately sets up his first telegraph line between his house and his friend’s house. Soon there was a fire in Thomas' carriage, and the conductor threw Edison and his laboratory out.

Traveling Telegraph Operator

In 1863, Edison became a telegraph operator. night shift at the station with a salary of 25 dollars a month. Here he manages to automate part of the work and sleep on the job, for which he soon receives a severe reprimand. Soon, due to his fault, two trains almost collided. Tom returned to Port Huron to live with his parents.

All this time, Edison cared little about clothing and everyday life, spending all his money on books and materials for experiments. It was in Boston that Edison first became acquainted with the works of Faraday, which were of great importance for all his future activities.

In addition, it was during these years that Edison tried to obtain his first patent from the Patent Office. He is developing an “electric voting machine” - a special device for counting “yes” and “no” votes cast. The demonstration of the apparatus before a special parliamentary commission ended unsuccessfully due to the reluctance of parliament to abandon paper counting. In 1868, Edison went to New York to sell another of his inventions there - an apparatus for automatically recording stock exchange rates. However, these hopes were not justified. Edison returns to Boston.

Moving to New York

With the money received, Edison buys equipment for making stock tickers and opens his own workshop in Newark, near New York. In 1871, he opened two more new workshops. He devotes all his time to work. Edison subsequently said that until the age of fifty, he worked an average of 19.5 hours a day.

The New York Automatic Telegraph Society suggested that Edison improve an automatic telegraphy system based on paper perforation. The inventor solves the problem and gets, instead of the maximum transmission speed on a manual device, equal to 40-50 words per minute, the speed of automatic devices is about 200 words per minute, and later up to 3 thousand words per minute. While working on this task, Thomas meets his future wife, Mary Stillwell. However, the wedding had to be postponed because Edison's mother died in April 1871. The wedding of Thomas and Mary took place in December 1871. In 1873, the couple had a daughter, who was named Marion in honor of older sister Tom. In 1876, a son was born, who was named Thomas Alva Edison Jr.

After short stay In England, Edison begins to work on duplex and quadruplex telegraphy. The principle of quadruplex (double duplex) was known earlier, but in practice the problem was solved by Edison in 1874 and is his greatest invention. In 1873, the Remington brothers bought an improved model of the Scholz typewriter from Edison and subsequently began to widely produce typewriters under the Remington brand. In three years (1873-1876), Thomas applied for new patents for his inventions forty-five times. Also during these years, Edison's father moved in with him and took on the role of economic assistant to his son. For inventive activities, a large, well-equipped laboratory was needed, so in January 1876 its construction began in Menlo Park near New York.

Menlo Park

Menlo Park, a small village where Edison moved in 1876, acquired world fame. Edison gets the opportunity to work in a real, equipped laboratory. From this moment on, invention becomes his main profession.

Telephone transmitter

Edison's first work in Menlo Park included telephony. The Western Union Company, concerned about the threat of competition to the telegraph, turned to Edison. After trying many options, the inventor created the first practical telephone microphone, and also introduced an induction coil into the telephone, which significantly increased the sound of the telephone. For his invention, Edison received 100 thousand dollars from Western Union.