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About this book
In September 1878, Thomas Alva Edison brashlyâand prematurelyâproclaimed 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 aloneânor was he firstâin 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.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Preface to the Johns Hopkins Edition
- Chapter One âA Big Bonanzaâ
- Chapter Two âThe Throes of Inventionâ
- Chapter Three âSome difficult Requirementsâ
- Chapter Four The Triumph of Carbon
- Chapter Five Business And Science
- Chapter Six A System Complete
- Chapter Seven Promises Fulfilled
- Afterword
- A Note from the Authors with Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Recommended Additional Reading
- Index