The world today would be a very different place without the inventions of Thomas A. Edison. He was known as the Wizard of Menlo Park.
Edison had obtained 1,093 US Patents over 63 years from 1868 to 1931 (1,084 utility patents and 9 design patents). Only 2 people hold more patents in the United States. (1)
His research provided notable contributions to telegraphy, telephony, sound recording, electronic lighting, electric power generation and distribution, and the motion picture. (2) Edison’s first invention, in 1869, was an electric vote-recorder. It was to allow Washington congressmen to vote “yes” or “no” but they were not interested so the invention proved unsuccessful. (http://www.google.com/patents/US90646)
Other notable inventions include: (3)
STENCIL PEN: The stencil pen was the predecessor to tattoo pens.
PRACTICAL ELECTRIC LAMP: Edison’s carbon filament light bulb was the first commercially viable electric light. Previous versions were not as durable and used expensive materials such as platinum.
FRUIT PRESERVER: Edison designed a fruit preserver that sucked the oxygen out of the glass jars, producing vacuum-sealed jars of fruit.
KINETOGRAPHIC CAMERA: The camera showed successive photos in a rapid speed so as to make them appear to be moving.
A complete listing of all of Thomas A. Edison’s 1,093 patents: http://edison.rutgers.edu/patents.htm
In addition to the patents issues in the United States, Edison also was issued 1239 patents by foreign governments. (4)
| Country | No. | Country | No. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentine | 1 | — | Mexico | 14 |
| Australia | 6 | Natal | 5 | |
| Austria | 101 | New South Wales | 38 | |
| Belgium | 88 | New Zealand | 31 | |
| Brazil | 1 | Norway | 16 | |
| Canada | 129 | Orange Free State | 2 | |
| Cape of Good Hope | 5 | Portugal | 10 | |
| Ceylon | 4 | Queensland | 29 | |
| Cuba | 12 | Russia | 17 | |
| Denmark | 9 | South African Republic | 4 | |
| France | 111 | South Australia | 1 | |
| Germany | 130 | Spain | 54 | |
| Great Britain | 131 | Sweden | 61 | |
| Hungary | 30 | Switzerland | 13 | |
| India | 44 | Tasmania | 8 | |
| Italy | 83 | Victoria | 42 | |
| Japan | 5 | West Australia | 4 | |
| Total of Edison’s Foreign Patents——1239 | ||||
To Learn More:
- Thomas A. Edison: Father of Invention, check out this video available through Alexander Street Press.
- Barksdale, Martha. “10 Inventions by Thomas Edison (That You Never Heard Of)” 13 January 2010. HowStuffWorks.com.
- The University of Iowa Libraries has 58 books/videos related to Thomas A. Edison.
- Baldwin, Neil,. 1995. Edison, inventing the century. 1st ed. New York : Hyperion. TK140.E3 B25 1995 Main Library.
- Israel, Paul. 1998. Edison : A life of invention. New York : John Wiley. TK140.E3 I87 1998 Engineering Library.
- Friedel, Robert D., Paul Israel, and Bernard S. Finn. 2010. Edison’s electric light : The art of invention. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press. TK4351 .F75 2010 Engineering Library.
- McFee, Inez Nellie Canfield,. 1922. The story of thomas A. edison. New York : Barse & Hopkins. Special Collections Iowa Authors Collection.
- Stross, Randall E. 2007. The wizard of menlo park : How thomas alva edison invented the modern world. 1st ed. New York : Crown Publishers. TK140.E3 S76 2007 Main Library.
- Edison, Thomas A., and Dagobert D. Runes. 1968. The diary and sundry observations of thomas alva edison. New York,: Greenwood Press TK140.E3 A3 1948a Main Library.
References:
- Love, Dylan. 2011. The 10 Greatest Inventors in the Modern Era. Business Insider. May 6, 2011. http://www.businessinsider.com/most-prolific-inventors-2011-5?op=1
- Jenkins, Reese V. and Keith A. Nier. 1984. A Record for Invention: Thomas Edison and His Papers. IEEE Transactions on Education. 27 (4): 191 – 197. http://proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/login?url=http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=4321702
- Aquino, Judith. 2011. Thomas Edison’s 31 Greatest Inventions. Business Insider. April 7, 2011. http://www.businessinsider.com/thomas-edison-inventions-light-bulb-and-30-more?op=1
- Dyer, Frank Lewis, and Thomas Commerford Martin. 1910. Edison, his life and inventions. Volume 2. New York, London,: Harper & Brothers. Electronic Resource (NetLibrary).