He did invent one or two things

Can you explain what those were? Most people think he "invented" the light bulb, that's what is taught in school, but he just perfected it. But he did end up patenting the "Edison base" for the light bulb, so none of the others that thought of other ways of making them couldn't use his screw in base.

To me the story of Edison is like the story of the founding fathers of the USA, written by people that want them to look like they were out to help us all. But newer research into things in the National Archives and letters written between them and others from the time period, things that were overlooked for a long time, is painting a different picture of things. Will it get changed in history books in the schools? Probably not, but at least the truth is finally getting out.

 

Elon Musk?
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/05/elon-musk-coronavirus-pandemic-tweets/611887/

A prediction of coming attractions for someone else?

 

@nsaspook; Not quite. But lets not play guessing games. We all have our opinions. And opinions are like arse holes. Everybody has one. Some stink.

You are making this into a modern day political discussion with absolutely no cause.

 

@nsaspook OH NO - NO - NO! That'd be a violation of guidelines. Only stating that Edison reminds me of someone of modern history. Current events.

 

@nsaspook OH NO - NO - NO! That'd be a violation of guidelines. Only stating that Edison reminds me of someone of modern history. Current events.

I was born at night, not last night.

 

Most people think he "invented" the light bulb

I'm quite aware of the real history of the light bulb ... to his credit, he did put the hell of a lot of work into it himself until he and his team finally made it work to an acceptable performance level. Let me do a little digging here and there, and see what I can remember of his direct personal contributions.

 

Edison hire Tesla and promised him a huge reward if he could improve the efficiency of his DC motor by 10percent.

There are several errors in your list. For example, it was not Morse who got the first patent for a trans-atlantic radio - it was Marconi. Some say the patent was recinded and awarded to Tesla because of a strong national anti-Italian sentiment during and after WWII, but there also is the fact that one of the items in the patent schematic is something called a "Tesla inductor".

I'm not sure where all of the "overlooked" and "not credited" Tesla descriptions come from. Sixty years ago, maybe; today his work and theories are taught at the college level in both Electrical Engineering and physics. Plus, there is an SI derived unit named after him, something Edison could never, ever have.

ak

 

Edison was an innovator and inventor

More than anything else, Edison was a machinist. Phonograph, movie camera, light bulb - all mechanical inventions. The reason he has so many patents is that he invented the business of inventing. He turned inventing into a production line operation to feed his one true passion - money.

ak

 

He turned inventing into a production line operation to feed his one true passion - money.

Money... and ego

 

What the history and science books ignore and don't like to talk about is that Tesla was bat-s**t crazy. It was brushed off as the eccentricities of being a genius. It is a wonder he wasn't committed to a sanitarium for the insane. But then they were making money off of the man so...

 

What the history and science books ignore and don't like to talk about is that Tesla was bat-s**t crazy. It was brushed off as the eccentricities of being a genius. It is a wonder he wasn't committed to a sanitarium for the insane. But then they were making money off of the man so...

I'd use the word "obsessed" instead... but yes, most people would categorize him as insane nowadays.

 

What the history and science books ignore and don't like to talk about is that Tesla was bat-s**t crazy. It was brushed off as the eccentricities of being a genius. It is a wonder he wasn't committed to a sanitarium for the insane. But then they were making money off of the man so...

To be fair, most of that happened after this:
https://teslauniverse.com/nikola-tesla/timeline/1922-teslas-favorite-pigeon-dies

More than enough to break any man.

 

He is called a "germaphobe" but it went farther than that. Begining in his 20's and progressing as the years went along. It prevented him from having the normal interactions with other people so it was later that he started in with pigeons instead of people as close associates of his. After all, his relationships with people had not gone well by that time so he shunned them and began "communicating" with pigeons instead...

 

He is called a "germaphobe" but it went farther than that.

A pigeon-loving germaphobe ... the irony

 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/27/business/ge-light-bulbs-sale/index.html

GE's roots are inextricably tied to the light bulb. The company was co-founded by Edison, the inventor of the modern light bulb. In 1892, Edison merged his company, Edison General Electric Company, with Thomson-Houston Electric Company.