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Cover image of Edison's Electric Light
Cover image of Edison's Electric Light
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Edison's Electric Light

The Art of Invention

Robert Friedel and Paul Israel

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In September 1878, Thomas Alva Edison brashly—and prematurely—proclaimed his breakthrough invention of a workable electric light. That announcement was followed by many months of intense experimentation that led to the successful completion of his Pearl Street station four years later. Edison was not alone—nor was he first—in developing an incandescent light bulb, but his was the most successful of all competing inventions. Drawing from the documents in the Edison archives, Robert Friedel and Paul Israel explain how this came to be. They explore the process of invention through the Menlo Park...

In September 1878, Thomas Alva Edison brashly—and prematurely—proclaimed his breakthrough invention of a workable electric light. That announcement was followed by many months of intense experimentation that led to the successful completion of his Pearl Street station four years later. Edison was not alone—nor was he first—in developing an incandescent light bulb, but his was the most successful of all competing inventions. Drawing from the documents in the Edison archives, Robert Friedel and Paul Israel explain how this came to be. They explore the process of invention through the Menlo Park notes, discussing the full range of experiments, including the testing of a host of materials, the development of such crucial tools as the world's best vacuum pump, and the construction of the first large-scale electrical generators and power distribution systems. The result is a fascinating story of excitement, risk, and competition.

Revised and updated from the original 1986 edition, this definitive study of the most famous invention of America's most famous inventor is completely keyed to the printed and electronic versions of the Edison Papers, inviting the reader to explore further the remarkable original sources.

Reviews

Reviews

Quite readable... Friedel and Israel provide a good description of the process of inventing a functional, marketable incandescent light bulb as well as an electric power grid.

Any library strong in scientific inventions and the process of theories and exploration will find this a winning survey.

I highly recommend Edison's Electric Light.

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Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
5.5
x
8.5
Pages
248
ISBN
9780801894824
Illustration Description
20 halftones
Table of Contents

Preface to the Johns Hopkins Edition
1. "A Big Bonanza"
2. "The Throes of Invention"
The Search for a Vacuum
3. "Some Difficult Requirements"
Carbon and the Incandescent Lamp
4. The Triumph of Carbon
Who

Preface to the Johns Hopkins Edition
1. "A Big Bonanza"
2. "The Throes of Invention"
The Search for a Vacuum
3. "Some Difficult Requirements"
Carbon and the Incandescent Lamp
4. The Triumph of Carbon
Who Invented the Incandescent Lamp?
5. Business and Science
The Menlo Park Mystique
6. A System Complete
7. Promises Fulfilled
Afterword
A Note from the Authors with Acknowledgments
Notes
Recommended Additional Reading
Index

Author Bios
Featured Contributor

Robert Friedel Ph.D.

Robert Friedel is a professor of history of technology and science at the University of Maryland, College Park. His most recent book is A Culture of Improvement: Technology and the Western Millennium.
Featured Contributor

Paul B. Israel, Ph.D.

Paul B. Israel is director and editor of the Thomas A. Edison Papers Project at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
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