“We forget just how painfully dim the world was before electricity. A candle, a good candle, provides barely a hundredth of the illumination of a single 100 watt light bulb. Open your refrigerator door and you summon forth more light than the total amount enjoyed by most households in the 18th century” (Bryson, Bill pg. ). This excerpt from american author Bill Bryson's book, “At Home: A Short History of Private Life” puts into perspective how much society has come to rely on electricity. History books across the United States all paint a similar picture of the American hero named Thomas Edison. This picture shows a driven inventor and a pioneer in the field of electricity who shaped the way modern society relied on electricity. Contrary to
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It is ironic that society glorifies Edison, even though it is Tesla who has a far greater impact on the way that it functions on a day to day basis. This is due to many things, one of them is how these two inventors approached their professions. Edison started from humble beginnings, his first commercially successful product was called the “universal stock printer”. According to the National Park Service, “For this and some related inventions Edison was paid $40,000” (“Edison Biography” n.pg), with this money he was able to purchase a small laboratory and manufacturing facility in New Jersey. Edison was doing pretty good for himself, however, it was in December of 1879, when Edison showed the world the incandescent light bulb when Edison was brought into stardom. The light bulb is his most important and well known invention. The invention of the light bulb is Edison biggest contribution to society, even though it is not his invention. The previous statement sounds contradicting, however, it is a statement that perfectly describes Edison's rise to fame. Thomas Edison took credit for others ideas or inventions to make a profit off of them. The most noticeable invention that he took credit for was the incandescent light bulb. Most people believe that Edison invented the light bulb, however, “...Thomas Edison, neither invented the light bulb, …show more content…
His selfless approach to his work allowed greedy inventors like Thomas Edison to take advantage of his skills and take credit for his work. This is the primary reason Nikola Tesla does not get the recognition that he deserves. Tesla has been taken advantage of over and over again, however, perhaps his most important and revolutionary invention that someone else took credit for was the radio. In 1901 Guglielmo Marconi was credited with the invention of the radio when he successfully transmitted a wireless transmission across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1909 he even shared the Nobel Prize in physics for his contributions to wireless and long distance communication. At the time Marconi was thought to be a pioneer in his field but an article by The Escapist shows that he was not the first to wirelessly communicate through
It is ironic that society glorifies Edison, even though it is Tesla who has a far greater impact on the way that it functions on a day to day basis. This is due to many things, one of them is how these two inventors approached their professions. Edison started from humble beginnings, his first commercially successful product was called the “universal stock printer”. According to the National Park Service, “For this and some related inventions Edison was paid $40,000” (“Edison Biography” n.pg), with this money he was able to purchase a small laboratory and manufacturing facility in New Jersey. Edison was doing pretty good for himself, however, it was in December of 1879, when Edison showed the world the incandescent light bulb when Edison was brought into stardom. The light bulb is his most important and well known invention. The invention of the light bulb is Edison biggest contribution to society, even though it is not his invention. The previous statement sounds contradicting, however, it is a statement that perfectly describes Edison's rise to fame. Thomas Edison took credit for others ideas or inventions to make a profit off of them. The most noticeable invention that he took credit for was the incandescent light bulb. Most people believe that Edison invented the light bulb, however, “...Thomas Edison, neither invented the light bulb, …show more content…
His selfless approach to his work allowed greedy inventors like Thomas Edison to take advantage of his skills and take credit for his work. This is the primary reason Nikola Tesla does not get the recognition that he deserves. Tesla has been taken advantage of over and over again, however, perhaps his most important and revolutionary invention that someone else took credit for was the radio. In 1901 Guglielmo Marconi was credited with the invention of the radio when he successfully transmitted a wireless transmission across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1909 he even shared the Nobel Prize in physics for his contributions to wireless and long distance communication. At the time Marconi was thought to be a pioneer in his field but an article by The Escapist shows that he was not the first to wirelessly communicate through