{"id":3498,"date":"2016-01-28T19:32:52","date_gmt":"2016-01-29T01:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/?p=3498"},"modified":"2017-04-11T12:32:09","modified_gmt":"2017-04-11T17:32:09","slug":"new-exhibit-on-thomas-edison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/eng\/new-exhibit-on-thomas-edison\/","title":{"rendered":"New Exhibit on Thomas Edison!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Thomas<\/a>
Thomas Edison, Feb. 11, 1847 to Oct. 18, 1931<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We \u00a0have a brand new exhibit honoring Thomas Edison’s 169th Birthday!<\/p>\n

Thomas Alva Edison was born February 11, 1847 and died October 18, 1931 at the age of 84. Even though his primary school teacher, Rev. G.B. Engle, believed him to be “addled,” Edison went on to be awarded 1,093 U.S. Patents. When his foreign patents are included,\u00a0he was received\u00a0a total of 2,332! Our new display honoring him highlights some of those inventions.<\/p>\n

To say he was creative and inventive seems well, obvious. However, much of that comes from his ability to learn from his failures and re-use and refine ideas and machinery. This ability is\u00a0summed up in this famous quote:<\/p>\n

\n
I haven’t failed.<\/strong><\/div>\n
I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.<\/strong><\/div>\n
— Thomas Edison<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The fact that Edison and his team\u00a0of researchers tested more than 3,000 designs for the light bulb between 1878 and 1880 is evidence of his persistence and ability to learn from his failures. In 1879 he filed for a patent for an electric lamp with a carbon filament. But even after the patent was awarded, he continued to test over 6,000 plants until it was discovered that a carbonized bamboo filament could burn for more that 1,200 hours.<\/p>\n

It is reported\u00a0that Edison’s favorite invention was the phonograph. He developed\u00a0a way to record sound on tinfoil-covered cylinders. The first thing that Edison recorded? “Mary had a little lamb!”\u00a0He suggested there were many other uses for the phonograph, such as books for the blind\u00a0music boxes and toys, and a connection with the telephone so messages could be recorded, So many are now reality!<\/p>\n

\"Acme<\/a>
Acme Motion Picture Projector. Patented in 1922.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From 1888 to 1893 Edison worked with William Dickson on a motion picture camera. Edison\u00a0always worked with very capable assistants, but this is the first really clear case where Edison took sole credit for a joint project. Dickson was a photographer and provided the photographic knowledge and Edison worked on the electromechanical parts. Edison and Dickson\u00a0were only some of the many inventors who were working on motion pictures at the time but Edison is credited with introducing the first commercially viable system.<\/p>\n

Even though the first projector used by the Edison film company was called the Edison Vitascope, Edison really didn’t have much to do with projector technology.\u00a0Edwin S. Porter, a former Edison Studios cameraman, directed The Great Train Robbery,\u00a0<\/em>in 1903. He used innovative techniques which included composite editing, location shooting, and cross cutting. And some, but not all, of the prints from The Great Train Robbery<\/em>\u00a0were hand colored. This was the also the first movie that presented a story and not short skits.\u00a0The Great Train Robbery<\/em> is now largely considered to be the first American action film.<\/p>\n