Thomas
Alva Edison was probably the greatest inventor. His first job was selling
newspapers on trains, and later, at the age of 16, he got a job working in a
telegraph office. Not all of Edison’s inventions were successful. In fact, his
first one was a failure. Many that followed, however, were bright successes and
Edison became famous. Most people regard him as a genius. Edison worked hard
all his life, often working all night in his laboratory, and would not come
home for days sometimes. When asked what makes a genius he said: “Genius is 99%
perspiration and 1% inspiration.” Although most of the inventions which made
Edison famous were made in the first half of his life, Edison continued to work
and invent till he was over 70, often working 16 hours a day! During his long
and productive life, Edison made 1,300 inventions.
One
of the most important inventions is the light bulb. Thomas Edison tried two
thousand different materials in search of a filament for the light bulb. When
none worked satisfactorily, his assistant complained, “All our work is in vain.
We have learned nothing.”
Edison
replied very confidently, “Oh, we have come a long way and we have learned a
lot. We know that there are two thousand elements which we cannot use to make a
good light bulb. Edison died on October 18, 1931, at the age of 84.
