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Thomas Edison Research Paper

550 Words3 Pages

Thomas Alva Edison inventions and work had great impact in making electricity available to everyone, but his work were merely instrumental. He improved existing technologies and obtained patents. From the viewpoint of the innovation process the role of Edison is located in the product development and the diffusion phase.

“He asks himself when a new idea is suggested, Will this be valuable from the industrial point of view ? Will it do something important better than existing methods ?“

In 1878 Thomas Edison after having examined William Wallace’s dynamos and Moses G. Farmer’s arc lights, saw the enormous commercial potential of electricity. It could power a new generation of industrial machines and bring light to the offices and homes of the entire world. Therefore Edison decided to concentrate on electric light, and after a mere week from the tour of Wallace’s shop he invented the first practical incandescent light bulb, one where a wire inside the glass bulb glowed brilliantly as electricity flowed through it.
Edison’s vision wasn’t just to start a successful business of mass production …show more content…

Then he started testing a miniature lighting network in the field around his laboratory in Menlo Park. Edison’s plan was to generate electricity in a central station and then send it to the world via insulated copper wires buried just below the city streets in sunken subways. Once those insulated copper wires reached a building, they would just be run through the existing gas pipes into existing gas lamps, where light bulbs would be attached. By 1880, Edison’s experimental inventor’s laboratory had been transformed into a production and testing facility for light bulbs, dynamos, conducting wires, and insulation. This was completely new and complex technology, and no one really knew how long it would take to make it work or what it might ultimately

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It is critical you understand what he did because he should only be credited for what he advanced not what was already created. We can thank the inventors for all the effort they decided to put forth to what they created. The bulb created a wide variety of opportunities ranging from a very small toy car bulb to lights in New York city where there are millions of lights. The opportunities created jobs and advancement in new technology, next time you use your smartphone thank Edison because he has a very small percentage of credit for it, he created the inventions movement in a way and gave you light in many possible ways you can think of in the modern world

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In fact, Edison’s light bulb lasted so long that the glass cracked well before the light dimmed, leading Edison to strengthen the glass, significantly extending the life of the light bulb (Avila). Had it not been for Edison, the light bulb would have remained an insufficient discovery with no applications in the lives of Americans because of its short lifespan. Moreover, Edison’s drive to provide a reliable light source to the American people is shown by a newspaper illustration from 1878, which showcases Edison’s machine shop. Visually, it is clear that Edison worked hard to create a commercially available light bulb through the jumble of machinery and workers (“Edison Electric Light”). The quantity of workers in the shop further displays the extent to which Edison went in order to spread the fruits of his knowledge to the citizens of America.

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Many years ago, inventors began researching the light bulb and electricity, but Edison was the one to start it all. In 1878, Edison made an announcement saying he knew how to make electric light even though Edison still had a year left of work because he was ended up being wrong (Inventing). “By October 1879, Edison’s team had produced a light bulb with a carbonized filament of uncoated cotton thread that could last for 14.5 hours” (energy). This changed the world forever. Thomas Edison also created many other inventions making the light bulb more practical.

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He was the youngest of seven children and his mother was a teacher. Thomas Edison helped invent over 1000 inventions, some of which include the camera and the microphone, but Edison’s largest success in life was the recreation of the light bulb, in 1879 when he discovered that a carbon filament inside an oxygen-free bulb could glow (Science for Kids). Significance: The most obvious significance of the recreation of the electric light bulb is that people now had easy access to a light to use after the sun went down.

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The incandescent lamp was already created by previous inventors; however, their versions were not effective and cheap enough for mass-production commercially. Edison eventually understood that the light bulb needed to have a low current, and thus, high resistance as well as voltage. Additionally, the design required a long-lasting filament, which was extremely difficult to find. After his endeavor comprising of thousands of meticulous experiments, Edison finally used a carbonized cotton thread as the filament that successfully lit the light bulb for about 13.5 hours. Edison would improve his invention until November 4, 1879, when he filed a patent for a light bulb using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected to platina contact wires".

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There have been many incredible thinkers, inventors, and people whose way of thinking have forged new paths to shape the way we live today. Nicola Tesla and Thomas Edison are two of these forward-thinking minds responsible numerous for technological leaps. Tesla suffering from mental illness, the struggles of financial difficulty, and the competition of other inventors never let his passion for inventing dwindle. Edison was a business mogul, with very little education and a legacy of life changing technological contributions. These factors make Nicola tesla and Thomas Edison the models in which all inventors should strive to achieve.

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The late 19th century was home to the pinnacle of technological advancement. With the Industrial Revolution in full swing, America was taking its first steps into entering the modern age. With this came the harnessing, development, and implementation of electricity to power the ever growing advancements of the time. All of this started with Thomas Edison’s invention of the first practical light bulb in the late 1870’s (History), giving light and paving the way for electricity’s entrance into our homes. Despite this, Edison’s method of transferring electricity with Direct Current was limited how far power could travel from the power plant,and how it could be adjusted to fit the needs of the average consumer.

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He had started a wide array of electric firms, and they continued experiencing immense growth unit they were joined in the year 1889 and formed Edison General Electric (Sproule, 2000). The vast amount of capital required in developing the lighting industry and that which contributed to the investment of various investors implied that Edison could not control or claim sole ownership to the company. Although the early lighting system introduced by Edison has some problems, there were used in important events like the 1881 Paris Lighting Exhibition and in 1882 in London at Crystal Palace (Tagliaferro, 2003). Competitors emerged and an alternative system that used AC current. The AC current in the year 1889 dominated the field and as such the name was dropped after the company merged with Thompson-Houston in the year 1892 leading to the formation of General Electric

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Thomas Edison began creating electric systems which marked the beginning of the age of electricity (Bellis para 15). In order to make a power station, Edison’s power station had four essential elements: a central generation that is reliable, effective distribution, a triumphant final use, and a decent asking price (Bellis para 16). Edison’s first incandescent systems, however, had complications; they were being used in celebrated occasions like the “Paris Lighting Exhibition” and the “Crystal Palace” located in London (“Thomas”... History para 8). In 1880, Edison embarked to create a company that could give electricity to light and power cities of the globe (“Thomas”...

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