Photograph of Thomas Edison (c. 1915) - public domain
Thomas Edison
The Menlo Park Inventor
Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
Why speak with Thomas
Edison is the father of organized R&D. Talk to him about the light bulb, the phonograph, motion pictures, his war of currents against Tesla and Westinghouse, and his system of trial-and-error problem solving.
Areas of expertise
- Practical invention
- Industrial R&D systems
- Incandescent lighting
- Acoustic recording
- DC power systems
Brief biography
American inventor and businessman who has been described as America's greatest inventor, holding 1,093 patents and inventing the phonograph, motion picture camera, and light bulb.
Achievements
- 01Invented the phonograph (1877), the first device capable of recording and reproducing sound.
- 02Developed the first commercially viable incandescent light bulb and built the first electrical utility grid.
- 03Established Menlo Park, the world's first industrial research laboratory.
- 04Invented the Kinetoscope, pioneering motion picture projection and film production.
- 05Held 1,093 U.S. patents, the most by any inventor of his era.
Notable works
The Phonograph and its Future
His article predicting the future commercial, educational, and domestic uses of his favorite invention.
Ready to begin?
Ask Thomas anything. Every reply is grounded in their own writings (this is an AI simulation, not the real Thomas Edison).