Thomas Edison biography -
Prolific inventor and entrepreneur

Thomas Edison biography. Thomas Alva Edison, the most prolific American inventor of the 19th century, was born on February 11, 1847 to parents Samuel Ogden Edison Jr and Nancy Matthews Elliott. This was in Milan, Ohio, but they later had to move to Port Huron, Michigan as the railroad did not stop in Milan anymore.

The Thomas Edison biography starts with a troubled early life as a bout of scarlet fever with recurring ear infections caused him partial deafness. When he started school later than other kids, a teacher called him 'addled' and after only three weeks of formal education he dropped out. His mother still believed in him and home schooled him, and she was the inspiration he needed to believe in himself and to make something of himself.

His entrepreneurial streak was evident from a young age as he sold candies and newspapers on the train between Port Huron and Detroit. He also sold vegetables to supplement his income.

After saving a station master's three year old kid from a runaway train, Edison was trained and given a job as a telegraph operator. His partial deafness actually helped him to be a better operator as at that time it allowed him to focus more on the messages.

It was around this time where he worked as a telegraph operator that he met and became friends with his mentor, the inventor Franklin Leonard Pope. Pope allowed him to work and live from his basement where he could invent and experiment with joy. He actually lost his job as a telegraph operator when he used some of his spare time on the night shift to experiment causing some damage to the boss' office.

Part of the Thomas Edison biography is his personal life. He married Mary Stillwell in 1871 and they had three children: Marion Estelle Edison, Thomas Alva Edison Jr and William Leslie Edison. Mary died of a brain tumor / hemorrhage in 1884. He later remarried to Mina Miller the daughter of a Ohio industrialist. They also had three children together: Madelein Edison, Charles Edison and Theodore Edison.

What truly made Edison successful was the industrialization of the research process. He established the first commercial research laboratory at Menlo Park and tried to find ways to commercialize all his inventions.

Today we know from the Thomas Edison biography that he is most famous for his electric light bulb, but his first commercial success was actually the phonograph. People at the time was astounded and it seemed like magic that a mechanical device can record and play sound. He got the nickname 'The Wizard of Menlo Park'.

He also tried coupling this with sound recording device with a series of photographs that would give the illusion of motion if taken in sequence. You know what it is today, the motion picture. At the time though, the task of connecting the sound to the pictures was too difficult so the silent movie was born. The device Edison patented for this was the kinetoscope.

When Edison proclaimed to a series of investors that he could invent a practical commercial light bulb, the formed the Edison Electric Light Company and was backed by some noticeable financiers like JP Morgan and the Vanderbilts to the tune of $30,000. Trying to overcome some of the initial obstacles for this he also invented and patented a electric distribution system.

Five years after setting out to find a solution (and 10000 ways not to do it in his own words), he came up with a practical incandescent light bulb. And under the auspices of the Edison Illuminating company built a generating plant at Pearl Street Station in Lower Manhattan that supplied power and illumination to 59 customers.

By 1887 there were 121 Edison generating plants in the U.S. But there was a competing system that seemed more efficient. In what was called 'The War of the Currents' Edison championed his own Direct current (DC) system while he was opposed by Westinghouse who championed the Alternating Current (AC) system invented by another inventor Nikola Tesla. In the end Edison lost this little battle as AC was a more efficient power distribution system over larger distances.

Not often mentioned is his failed venture trying to create a magnetic ore separator. Iron ore prices rose in the 1880's and he tried to find a way to separate the iron ore from low quality ore through magnetic application. As part of this venture, he purchased or acquired rights to 145 old ore mines by selling stock in his electric companies. This did not work out and he abandoned the effort when ore prices fell later.

Despite his shortcomings and disability the Thomas Edison biography shows he espoused an entrepreneurial mindset and succeeded against the odds. His only regret towards the end was that he didn't respect or give enough credit to Nikola Tesla or his inventions (a very successful and contemporary inventor that even worked for Edison at one stage). He passed away on October 18, 1931 in Fort Myers, Florida due complications from diabetes.

Over the course of his life, Thomas Edison invented and patented over a 1000 patents (alone or jointly) including the phonograph; carbon button transmitter (in microphones and telephones converting sounds to electricity and vice versa); commercially practical light bulb, kinetoscopes, and a host of other devices. More than any other man, he led us into the new industrial age of communications, electricity and power.

Thomas Edison biography - Further resources

• Thomas Edison biography at bio.
• Other famous entrepreneurs