Electricity and Light bulb
Thomas Edison's greatest challenge was the development of a practical incandescent, electric light. Contrary to popular belief, he didn't "invent" the lightbulb, but rather he improved upon a 50-year-old idea. In 1879, using lower current electricity, a small carbonized filament, and an improved vacuum inside the globe, he was able to produce a reliable, long-lasting source of light. The idea of electric lighting was not new, and a number of people had worked on, and even developed forms of electric lighting. But up to that time, nothing had been developed that was remotely practical for home use. Edison's eventual achievement was inventing not just an incandescent electric light, but also an electric lighting system that contained all the elements necessary to make the incandescent light practical, safe, and economical. After one and a half years of work, success was achieved when an incandescent lamp with a filament of carbonized sewing thread burned for thirteen and a half hours.There are a couple of other interesting things about the invention of the light bulb: While most of the attention was on the discovery of the right kind of filament that would work, Edison actually had to invent a total of seven system elements that were critical to the practical application of electric lights as an alternative to the gas lights that were prevalent in that day.
These were the development of:
The success of his electric light brought Thomas Edison to new heights of fame and wealth, as electricity spread around the world. His various electric companies continued to grow until in 1889 they were brought together to form Edison General Electric. Despite the use of Edison in the company title however, he never controlled this company. The tremendous amount of capital needed to develop the incandescent lighting industry had necessitated the involvement of investment bankers such as J.P. Morgan. When Edison General Electric merged with its leading competitor Thompson-Houston in 1892, Edison was dropped from the name, and the company became simply General Electric.
These were the development of:
- the parallel circuit,
- a durable light bulb,
- an improved dynamo,
- the underground conductor network,
- the devices for maintaining constant voltage,
- safety fuses and insulating materials, and
- light sockets with on-off switches.
The success of his electric light brought Thomas Edison to new heights of fame and wealth, as electricity spread around the world. His various electric companies continued to grow until in 1889 they were brought together to form Edison General Electric. Despite the use of Edison in the company title however, he never controlled this company. The tremendous amount of capital needed to develop the incandescent lighting industry had necessitated the involvement of investment bankers such as J.P. Morgan. When Edison General Electric merged with its leading competitor Thompson-Houston in 1892, Edison was dropped from the name, and the company became simply General Electric.
Phonograph
The first great invention developed by Edison in Menlo Park was the tin foil phonograph. While working to improve the efficiency of a telegraph transmitter, he noted that the tape of the machine gave off a noise resembling spoken words when played at a high speed. This caused him to wonder if he could record a telephone message. He began experimenting with the diaphragm of a telephone receiver by attaching a needle to it. He reasoned that the needle could prick paper tape to record a message. His experiments led him to try a stylus on a tinfoil cylinder, which, to his great surprise, played back the short message he recorded, "Mary had a little lamb."
The word phonograph was the trade name for Edison's device, which played cylinders rather than discs. The machine had two needles: one for recording and one for playback. When you spoke into the mouthpiece, the sound vibrations of your voice would be indented onto the cylinder by the recording needle. This cylinder phonograph was the first machine that could record and reproduce sound created a sensation and brought Edison international fame.
The word phonograph was the trade name for Edison's device, which played cylinders rather than discs. The machine had two needles: one for recording and one for playback. When you spoke into the mouthpiece, the sound vibrations of your voice would be indented onto the cylinder by the recording needle. This cylinder phonograph was the first machine that could record and reproduce sound created a sensation and brought Edison international fame.
Edison Motion Pictures
Thomas Edison's interest in motion pictures began before 1888, however, the visit of Eadweard Muybridgeto his laboratory in West Orange in February of that year certainly stimulated his resolve to invent a camera for motion pictures. Muybridge proposed that they collaborate and combine the Zoopraxiscope with the Edison phonograph. Although apparently intrigued, Edison decided not to participate in such a partnership, perhaps realizing that the Zoopraxiscope was not a very practical or efficient way of recording motion. In an attempt to protect his future, he filed a caveat with the Patents Office on October 17, 1888, describing his ideas for a device which would "do for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear" -- record and reproduce objects in motion. He called it a "Kinetoscope," using the Greek words "kineto" meaning "movement" and "scopos" meaning "to watch."One of Edison's first motion picture and the first motion picture ever copyrighted showed his employee Fred Ott pretending to sneeze. One problem was that a good film for motion pictures was not available. In 1893, Eastman Kodak began supplying motion picture film stock, making it possible for Edison to step up the production of new motion pictures. He built a motion picture production studio in New Jersey. The studio had a roof that could be opened to let in daylight, and the entire building was constructed so that it could be moved to stay in line with the sun.
C. Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat invented a film projector called the Vitascope and asked Edison to supply the films and manufacture the projector under his name. Eventually, the Edison Company developed its own projector, known as the Projectoscope, and stopped marketing the Vitascope. The first motion pictures shown in a "movie theater" in America were presented to audiences on April 23, 1896, in New York City.
C. Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat invented a film projector called the Vitascope and asked Edison to supply the films and manufacture the projector under his name. Eventually, the Edison Company developed its own projector, known as the Projectoscope, and stopped marketing the Vitascope. The first motion pictures shown in a "movie theater" in America were presented to audiences on April 23, 1896, in New York City.
Timeline of Thomas Edison's Inventions
1868: He invented an automatic vote recorder for legislatures.
1869: He invented several telegraph devices.
1871: He made several improvements in stock ticker technology.
1874: He invented the quadruplex telegraph for Western Union company, which transmitted four messages simultaneously (two in each direction).
1875: He invented the electric pen, an early copying device, and worked on various telegraph inventions.
1877: He invented the phonograph and the carbon transmitter (a crucial improvement in phone technology).
1879: He invented a direct current generator for incandescent electric lighting and the carbon filament lamp.
1882-1883: He designed and contracted for the first three-wire central station for distributing electric light, power, and heat - in standardized form - in Brockton, Massachusetts. He discovered a previously unknown phenomenon that later came to be known as the "Edison effect," but he called "Etheric Force". He specifically, determined that an independent wire, grid, or plate placed between the legs of the filament of an incandescent lamp acted as a "damper" or valve to control the current. After twelve years these previously unknown phenomena were recognized as electric waves in free space and became the foundation of wireless telegraphy. Most importantly, this discovery - along with his carbon button - involved the foundation principles upon which the diode was later invented, and upon which radio, television, and computer transistors are based.
1883: He constructed the first, relatively crude, three-wire central system for electric lighting in a simple wooden structure in Sunbury, Pa.
1886: He invented an improved wax-recording phonograph called the graphophone.
1881 - 1887: He invented a system of wireless telegraphy, (by induction) to and from trains in motion, or between moving trains and railway stations. The new system was installed on the Lehigh Valleys in 1887, and was used there for many years. He invented a wireless system of communication between ships at sea, ships and shore and ships and distant points on land.
1887 - 1890: He made major improvements on the brown wax and black wax cylinder phonograph. He obtained over eighty related patents, while establishing a very extensive commercial business in the manufacture and sale of phonographs and records, including associated dictating machines, "shaveable" records, and shaving machines.
1891: He made a number of inventions associated with improving electric railways. He Invented and patented the motion picture camera. This mechanism, with its continuous tape-like film, made it possible to take, reproduce, and project motion pictures as seen and heard today.
1891 - 1900: He developed his great iron ore enterprise, in which he did some of his most brilliant engineering work. One of his most significant inventions of this period was a giant roller machine for breaking large masses of rock and finely crushing them. He invented the Fluoroscope realizing the necessity and value of a practical fluorescent screen for making examinations with X-rays, he made thousands of crystallizations of single and double chemical salts and finally discovered that crystals of Calcium Tungstate made in a particular way were highly fluorescent to the X-ray. He also made many several improvements on the X-ray tube.
1905: He invented a revolutionary new type of dictating machine, which enabled the dictator to hear repetitions and make paper scale corrections.
1907: He invented the Universal Electric Motor which made it possible to operate dictating machines on all lighting circuits.
1900 - 1909: He made many important inventions relating to the processes involved in the production of pre-cast buildings.
1900 - 1910: He invented and perfected the steel alkaline storage battery and made it a commercial success
1910 - 1914: He invented the diamond point reproducer and the "indestructible" record, thereby commencing a new era in phonographs.
1912: He invented the Kinetophone or talking motion picture.
1913: He Invented an important automatic correction device for the dictating machine.
1914: He invented the Telescribe, combining the telephone and the dictating phonograph, thus permitting - for the first time - the recording of both sides of a telephone conversation.
1915: He invented the first synthetic form of carbolic acid (C6H6O).
1869: He invented several telegraph devices.
1871: He made several improvements in stock ticker technology.
1874: He invented the quadruplex telegraph for Western Union company, which transmitted four messages simultaneously (two in each direction).
1875: He invented the electric pen, an early copying device, and worked on various telegraph inventions.
1877: He invented the phonograph and the carbon transmitter (a crucial improvement in phone technology).
1879: He invented a direct current generator for incandescent electric lighting and the carbon filament lamp.
1882-1883: He designed and contracted for the first three-wire central station for distributing electric light, power, and heat - in standardized form - in Brockton, Massachusetts. He discovered a previously unknown phenomenon that later came to be known as the "Edison effect," but he called "Etheric Force". He specifically, determined that an independent wire, grid, or plate placed between the legs of the filament of an incandescent lamp acted as a "damper" or valve to control the current. After twelve years these previously unknown phenomena were recognized as electric waves in free space and became the foundation of wireless telegraphy. Most importantly, this discovery - along with his carbon button - involved the foundation principles upon which the diode was later invented, and upon which radio, television, and computer transistors are based.
1883: He constructed the first, relatively crude, three-wire central system for electric lighting in a simple wooden structure in Sunbury, Pa.
1886: He invented an improved wax-recording phonograph called the graphophone.
1881 - 1887: He invented a system of wireless telegraphy, (by induction) to and from trains in motion, or between moving trains and railway stations. The new system was installed on the Lehigh Valleys in 1887, and was used there for many years. He invented a wireless system of communication between ships at sea, ships and shore and ships and distant points on land.
1887 - 1890: He made major improvements on the brown wax and black wax cylinder phonograph. He obtained over eighty related patents, while establishing a very extensive commercial business in the manufacture and sale of phonographs and records, including associated dictating machines, "shaveable" records, and shaving machines.
1891: He made a number of inventions associated with improving electric railways. He Invented and patented the motion picture camera. This mechanism, with its continuous tape-like film, made it possible to take, reproduce, and project motion pictures as seen and heard today.
1891 - 1900: He developed his great iron ore enterprise, in which he did some of his most brilliant engineering work. One of his most significant inventions of this period was a giant roller machine for breaking large masses of rock and finely crushing them. He invented the Fluoroscope realizing the necessity and value of a practical fluorescent screen for making examinations with X-rays, he made thousands of crystallizations of single and double chemical salts and finally discovered that crystals of Calcium Tungstate made in a particular way were highly fluorescent to the X-ray. He also made many several improvements on the X-ray tube.
1905: He invented a revolutionary new type of dictating machine, which enabled the dictator to hear repetitions and make paper scale corrections.
1907: He invented the Universal Electric Motor which made it possible to operate dictating machines on all lighting circuits.
1900 - 1909: He made many important inventions relating to the processes involved in the production of pre-cast buildings.
1900 - 1910: He invented and perfected the steel alkaline storage battery and made it a commercial success
1910 - 1914: He invented the diamond point reproducer and the "indestructible" record, thereby commencing a new era in phonographs.
1912: He invented the Kinetophone or talking motion picture.
1913: He Invented an important automatic correction device for the dictating machine.
1914: He invented the Telescribe, combining the telephone and the dictating phonograph, thus permitting - for the first time - the recording of both sides of a telephone conversation.
1915: He invented the first synthetic form of carbolic acid (C6H6O).