Episode 95

"Several Thousand Things that Won't Work:" Thomas Alva Edison and His Electric Light

“A New Electric Light. The Electro-Dynamic Light Company Ready to Commence Operations.” The New York Times. New York, New York. October 30, 1878. Accessed at: https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5045915/the-new-york-times/.

Caldicott, Sarah Miller. Inventing the Future: What Would Thomas Edison be Doing Today? Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2011.

DeGraaf, Leonard. Edison and the Rise of Innovation. New York: Sterling Signature, 2013.

“Edison’s Electric Light.” American Experience. PBS. Accessed at: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/edison-electriclight/?utm_source=FBPAGE&utm_medium=social&utm_term=20171231&utm_content=1258843235&linkId=46454246&fbclid=IwAR3RmxnoCmaKJbf7XcCValCiV_v7-ptzSN9BoPn8FO-5Uosmb-haVVKG13k.

”Edison’s Electric Light. What Will Revolutionize the Present Method of Illumination. Cheaper and Better than Gas. How the Wizard of Menlo Park Guards His Secret.” New York Herald. New York, New York. October 12, 1878. Accessed at: https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030313/1878-10-12/ed-1/?sp=2&q=edisons+light&r=0.257,-0.034,0.637,0.537,0.

“Edison’s Light. The Great Inventor’s Triumph in Electric Illumination. A Scrap of Paper. It Makes a Light, Without Gas or Flame, Cheaper than Oil. Transformed in the Furnace. Complete Details of the Perfected Carbon Lamp. Fifteen Months of Toil. Story of His Tireless Experiments with Lamps, Burners and Generators. Success in a Cotton Thread. The Wizard’s Byplay, with Bodily Pain and Gold ‘Tailings’. History of Electric Lighting.” New York Herald. December 21, 1879. Accessed at: https://www.newspapers.com/image/329847952/.

Edison, Thomas. “Telegram from Thomas Alva Edison to William Wallace, September 13th, 1878.” The Thomas A. Edison Digital Edition. Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. Accessed at: http://edisondigital.rutgers.edu/document/D7819G#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-452%2C0%2C1351%2C664.

Edison, Thomas. “Telegram from Thomas Alva Edison to William Wallace, October 4th, 1878.” The Thomas A. Edison Papers Digital Edition. Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. Accessed at: http://edisondigital.rutgers.edu/document/D7819M#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-174%2C-43%2C1278%2C850.

“Edison and Innovation Series - The Invention Factory.” Thomas Edison Papers. Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. Accessed at: http://edison.rutgers.edu/inventionfactory.htm.

“Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville.” First Sounds. Accessed at: http://www.firstsounds.org/research/scott.php.

“Electric Generator.” Thomas A. Edison Papers. Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. Accessed at: http://edison.rutgers.edu/generator.htm.

Freeberg, Ernest. The Age of Edison: Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America. New York: Penguin Books, 2013.

“Generators & Dynamos.” Edison Tech Center: The Miracle of Electricity and Engineering. Accessed at: https://edisontechcenter.org/generators.html.

Heidler, David S. and Jeanne T., editors. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social and Military History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000.

“History and Culture.” Thomas Edison. National Park Service. Accessed at: https://www.nps.gov/edis/learn/historyculture/index.htm.

“History of the Cylinder Phonograph.” Inventing Entertainment: The Early Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies. Library of Congress. Accessed at: https://www.loc.gov/collections/edison-company-motion-pictures-and-sound-recordings/articles-and-essays/history-of-edison-sound-recordings/history-of-the-cylinder-phonograph.

“How Thomas Edison & His Business Came Back from a Tragic Fire.” Thomas Edison Muckers: Your Blog for Everything Edison, Everyday. Accessed at: https://www.edisonmuckers.org/how-thomas-edison-his-business-came-back-from-a-tragic-fire/.

Jehl, Francis. Menlo Park Reminiscences, Volume One. Darborn, Michigan: Edison institute, 1937.  Accessed at: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015071173150&view=1up&seq=1&skin=2021.

Jonnes, Jill. Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World. New York: Random House, 2004.

“Life of Thomas Alva Edison.” Inventing Entertainment: The Early Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies. Library of Congress. Accessed at: https://www.loc.gov/collections/edison-company-motion-pictures-and-sound-recordings/articles-and-essays/biography/life-of-thomas-alva-edison/.

Markel, Dr. Howard. “The Medical Mystery That Helped Make Thomas Edison an Inventor.” PBS News Hour. PBS. Accessed at: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/the-medical-mystery-that-helped-make-thomas-edison-an-inventor.

Martland, Peter. Recording History: The British Record Industry, 1888 – 1931. London: The Scarecrow Press, 2013.

“Mary Stilwell Edison.” Thomas Edison. National Park Service. Accessed at: https://www.nps.gov/edis/learn/historyculture/mary-stillwell-edison.htm.

Morris, Edmund. Edison. New York: Random House, 2019.

“Samuel and Nancy Elliott Edison.” Thomas Edison. National Park Service. Accessed at: https://www.nps.gov/edis/learn/historyculture/samuel-and-nancy-elliott-edison.htm.

Satterlee, Herbert L. J. Pierpont Morgan: An Intimate Portrait 1837 – 1913. New York: MacMillan, 1939.

Stross, Randall E. The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007.

“Technical Note, Charles Batchelor, October 22nd, 1879.” The Thomas A. Edison Papers Digital Edition. Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. Accessed at: http://edisondigital.rutgers.edu/document/N052105#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-100%2C-43%2C1286%2C855.

“The Carbon-Filament Lamp.” Thomas A. Edison Papers. Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. Accessed at: http://edison.rutgers.edu/lighting.htm#4.

“Thomas Edison: The Science of Innovation.” Who Made America? PBS. Accessed at: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/edison_hi.html.

“Timeline.” Inventing Entertainment: The Early Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies. Library of Congress. Accessed at: https://www.loc.gov/collections/edison-company-motion-pictures-and-sound-recordings/articles-and-essays/timeline/.

Wallace, William. “Letter from William Wallace to Thomas Alva Edison, September 13th, 1878.” The Thomas A. Edison Digital Edition. Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. Accessed at: http://edisondigital.rutgers.edu/document/D7819H#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-346%2C0%2C1127%2C553.

“Who is Credited with Inventing the Telephone.” Everyday Mysteries. Library of Congress. Accessed at:https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/item/who-is-credited-with-inventing-the-telephone/.