8/6/2019 tedison

1/20

NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCESO F TH E U N I TED STA TES O F A M ERI CA

BIOGRAPHICAL MKMOIRS

BI OGRAPHI CAL MEMOI ROE

T H O M A S A L V A E D I S O N1847-1931

BY

ARTHUR E . KENNELLY

PRESENTED TO THE ACADEMY AT THE AUTUMN MEETING, 1932

8/6/2019 tedison

2/20

8/6/2019 tedison

3/20

THOMAS ALVA EDISONBirth and Parentage

Thomas Alva Edison, probably the greatest inventor thatAmerica has produced, was born at Milan, Ohio, on Februarynth , 1847.

According to family records, the paternal ancestor of theEdisons landed in New Jersey, from Holland, about the year1730. Th e family on Edison's mo ther's side, the Elliotts, wasof Scotch-English origin and settled in New England prior to1700. Th e Edison s were a vigorous, hardy stock. Th e in-ventor's great-grandfather, Thomas Edison, lived to be 104years old, John Ed ison, his gran dfath er (175 0-185 2), to 102,and Samuel Edison , his father (180 4-189 6), to 92. They w ereall men of enduranc e and strong physique. Gre at-gra ndfa therThomas took an active part against the British Government inthe Revolutiona ry W ar of 1775-1781 ; while grand father JohnEdison, who was a young man of 25 when the war broke out,sided with the loyalists. W hen the great exodus occurred in1783, and many thousands of loyalists embarked for Canada,John Edison was among them. Father Samuel Edison wasborn at Digb y, Nova Sco tia, in 1804. Joh n finally settled atVienna, Ontario, close to the northern shore of Lake Erie, andthere he remained, as a Canadian citizen, to the end of his life.

In 1828, Samuel Edison, the inventor's father, marriedNanc y Elliott (1 810- 187 1), a school teacher at Vienn a. Shewas a clever, brilliant and attractive woman, the daughter ofa Baptist clergyman and granddaughter of Captain EbenezerElliott of Scotch ancestry, who fought on the American side inthe Revolutionary war, and who finally settled at Vienna,Ontario, where he lived to an age of over 100 years.

In 1837, when political disturbance in Ontario culminatedin rebellion against the British government, Samuel Edison.33 years of age, tall and of strong physique, was fighting asa Captain in Mack enzie's insurgents. Fo r the second time, theyounger member of the Edison family found himself on the

287

8/6/2019 tedison

4/20

NAT IONA L ACADEMY BIOGRA PHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVside of a lost cause. Samuel Edison h ad to make his escapewith his wife, through dangerous country, to the southern shoreof Lake Erie. The y finally settled at Milan, Ohio. He rethree children were born: William Pitt, Tannie, and the sub-sequently famous Thomas Alva, the last named on Februaryn th , 1847. All three children showed ability, but that of thetwo eldest was of an artistic and literary character.Boyhood (1854-1868)

When young Edison was seven years old, his family removedfrom Milan, Ohio, to Port Huron, Michigan, through whichtown the Grand Trunk Railroad had laid its tracks along theSt. Clair River which separated Michigan from O ntario. Theboy was good-nature d and courageous. Most boys are wellendowed with curiosity, but little Thomas seems to have hadcuriosity insatiable. He used to express surprise that thegrown-up people round him were unable to answer his numer-ous questions. He spent three months at the Port Hu ronpublic school, that being all the formal schooling he ever had.As a scholar, he does not appear to have made a success. Hismind was keen enough; but did not follow the grooves ofschool learning. His mother, who had been a teacher, andunderstood him, attended to his education herself. Under herguidance he became proficient in reading and writing. Ar ith-metic he never cared for. He soon revealed a great thirst forexperim enting, and especially for chemical experim enting. H espent his pocket money on inexpensive chemicals, and his sparetime in the family cellar, trying out their propertiesto see ifwhat the book said was true. Thr oug hout his life, Edisonnever accepted a text-book statement as final, until it had beentried out.

When the boy was eleven years old, he commenced his firstventure in business, by taking family garden produce to marketin Port Huron, in a little horse wagon, with the aid of anotherlad. A t twelve years of age, he applied for and secured a con-cession from the Grand Trunk Railroad to sell newspapers onthe trains between Por t Hu ron an d Detroit (a distance of 100

8/6/2019 tedison

5/20

THOM AS AIA'A EDISON KENN ELVVkm. or 62 mile s). In this way he was able to gain more pocketmoney for chemicals and experiments. H e not only kept upthis newsboy work on the trains; but also extended it , byemploying other boys as assistants on other trains, and openingtwo small stores in Port Huron, each operated by a boy com-panion . La ter he tran sfe rre d par t of his stock of chemicalsfrom the family cellar to the baggage car of the train on whichhe worked. He was very popular with the trainmen, whoknew him as "A l". A photograph of little Al, at about fourteenyears of age, shows a cheery, plucky lad, in a train-boy's cap,full of keen interes t in the world. Ab out this time, he pur -chased in Detroit a small hand printing press, with forms andtype. He persua ded the train conductor to let him mount thisin the baggage car, and so organized not only the first railwaychemical laboratory; but also the first railway printing press,collecting the news, composing, setting, printing and selling thesheets, all himself. The circulation of this single sheet, "TheWeekly Herald", amounted to 800 copies.

It was in 1862, when Edison was fifteen years old, carryingregularly an eighteen-hour workday, that an accident occurredwhich left him with a perm anen t deafness in both ears. Ru n-ning over a rough piece of track, the baggage car, with itsEdison corner laboratory, jolted to the floor a stick of phos-pho rus . Th is started a fire in the car that took all the effortsof Edison and the train crew to subdue. The conductor wasso angered that he soundly boxed young Thom as' ears. Wh enthe train stopped, all the stock of the laboratory and printingpress was thrown out on the station platform, to his greatdistress. In Edison's opinion, the injury to his hearing, thatmay have been caused by the cuffing, was intensified later, whena friendly trainman tried to help him climb on a baggage car,by pulling on his ears.

The slight deafness which came on after these events becameperman ent and gradually increased in later years. A man oflesser calibre might well have become morose by this infirmity;but it certainly did not have that effect upon Edison . H isdisposition remained throughout life, sunny, kindly and serene.2?A)

8/6/2019 tedison

6/20

NATIO NAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPH ICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVIn fact, he used to claim that his deafness was an asset; sinceit permitted him to concentrate his thoughts upon any desiredobject of study, even am ong intensely noisy sur rou ndin gs. Itwas a remarkable vindication against fate, when this partiallydeaf man later discovered, invented and perfected the phono-graph.

In August, 1862, an incident occurred which changed thedirection of young Edison's career. The train on which hewas newsboy was at Mount Clemens Junction, where freightcars were shifted. A box car was being shunted, at consider-able speed, to a side track. Th e station agen t's little son, thetwo-year-old Jimmie Mackenzie, had strayed to play on thisside track, right in the way of the oncoming box car. Yo ungEdison on the platform saw the danger. Casting aside cap andbundles, he jumped on the track and reached the child just intime to haul him clear. As it was, one front wheel of the carstruck his heel, and threw him with the child to the side ofthe track, on the stone ballasting. Th eir faces and han ds werecut; but no serious injury had been incurred.

On the following day, Mackenzie offered to teach the ladMorse telegraphy, with a view to helping him secure, later on,a position as railway telegraph ist. Edis on accepted, and in afew months, taking lessons three times a week, between traintimes, together with practice at odd hours elsewhere, heattained proficiency at the key.

For the next six years, Edison followed the career of atelegraphist. Du ring that t ime, he wandered, in the service ofthe Western Union Telegraph Company, through a number ofcities in the middle west, and the south as far as New Orleans.H e became noted as a rapid and accurate operator, frequentlybeing assigned to press work on night duty. H e adopted forthis work a clear, fast and upright style of handwriting, whichafterwa rds always characterized his penm anship. He spent allhis available leisure in experiment and study. Far ada y's "E lec-trical Researches" particularly interested him, owing to theirclose dependence upon experiment, their imaginative appeal,

29 0

8/6/2019 tedison

7/20

8/6/2019 tedison

8/20

8/6/2019 tedison

9/20

THOM AS ALVA EDISON KENNKL LYExhibition at Philadelphia, at which the new Bell telephonewas first shown to the public. Th e original Bell telepho neapparatus did not have a satisfactory transmitter, and Edison,after much experimental labor at Menlo Park, produced acarbon-button transmitter that virtually converted the tele-phone from an experimental to a commercially available ap-para tus. It was in his experimen ting with the carbon trans -mitter, that Edison coined the now well-known call word"Hello", which spread out from Menlo Park until it becameadopted by telephonists all over the world. H e also inventedabout this time, in Menlo Park, a new ingenious non-magnetictype of telephone receiver; since he was prevented from usingthe Bell electrom agnetic receiver. It opera ted on the principleof electrolytically varied friction between two conducting sur-faces in rubb ing contact. Th is instru me nt, called the electro-motograph receiver, had certain advantages in special cases,and produced very loud sounds; but did not come into exten-sive telephone use.In 1877, Edison discovered and developed the first stages ofhis phonograph or talking machine, which was justly regardedas a great wonder at that time. Ow ing to the pressu re of o therinventions, however, he was reluctantly compelled to set thisinstrument aside for a time, and leave its further developmentto later years.

In 1878 he took up the inventive problem of "subdivision ofthe electric light". At that time the arc light, origina lly dis-covered by Davy in 1809, had been developed and had comeinto commercial use for the illumination of halls and streets;but it was too powerful for interior use, and the problem there-fore was to substitute a number of small electric lamps for asingle arc lamp. A number of inventors had already expe ri-mented with glow lamps or incandescent lamps; but no success-ful result had been achieved. Ediso n realized tha t a com mer-cial incandescent lighting system would require its lamps to beconnected "in parallel", between the main conductors, like therungs of a ladder, and not "in series", or end-to-end connection,as had been the leading idea. Th is require d that each lamp29 3

8/6/2019 tedison

10/20

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAI, MEMOIRS VOI, . XVshould have a long, thin, high-resistance filament, a conditionthat greatly increased the difficulties of the prob lem . Afte ra vast number of failures, his first partially successful lamp hada filament of carbonized cotton thread, mounted in a highlyevacuated glass globe, with sealed-in platinum-wire leads. Thislamp, in October, 1879, glowed for 45 hours before breaking.After that, success was gradually reached. It came throughovercoming, in succession, a large number of small difficulties,any one of which could have destroyed the project.

A new industry had then to be created from the Menlo Parklaboratory results. A lamp factory, a dynamo factory, fac-tories for making operating instruments, testing instruments,main conductors, etc., all had to be set up and standardized.The early lamps were all operated by voltaic batteries, andalthough there were dynamos for operating arc lamps, therewas none in existence for operating incandescent lamps inparallel . Such dynamos had to be designed and built . Thesewere at first driven by leather belts from the standard low-speed steam engines of that period, the speed of which, althoughsatisfactorily steady when driving factory machinery, fluctuatedappreciably when used for incandescent l ighting service.Edison realized that these belts could not be used in perma-nent reliable central stations; so new types of high-speedengin es, with heavier fly-wheels, had to be developed forcoupling directly to the dynamo shafts. After a numb er ofsmall incandescent-lighting plants had been successfully set inoperation, it was decided to open a central incandescent stationin the center of the down-town business district of New YorkCity, at 257 Pea rl Street, with undergrou nd conduc tors. In allof this work, Edison was his own chief engineer.

The Pearl Street Stat ion turned on i ts current to the lampsin the district, Septem ber 4th, 1882. It was successful fromthe first , the system gradually expanding over the whole ofNew Y ork City. Althoug h domestic gas lighting was then gen-erally used, the new incandescent lamps won popularity throughtheir steadiness, coolness, freedom from combustion produ cts,and reduced fire hazard. Abou t the same period, Ediso n incan-

29 4

8/6/2019 tedison

11/20

THO MA S ALVA EDISON KEdescent-lighting stations and systems began to be developed allover the world.

Edison foresaw that the successful introduction of the incan-descent lamp into factories and homes would immediately admitthe use of the electric motor for operating machinery andhousehold power devices. A few motors had already beenemployed on constant-current series-arc circuits; but the con-stant-speed self-regulating motor, taking power from constant-voltage mains, could not be produced until the incandescentlamp led the way. The first Edison motors were operated atMenlo Park in 1880, and rapidly developed on the Edisonthree-wire systems, and in Sprague electric-railway systems.There were several standard characteristics of the Edisonsystem worked out at Menlo Park, that have remained but littlechanged to this day. One of these was the lamp voltage, whichhe early set at or near n o volts. A second standard was an in-ter-connected system of underground iron pipes, carrying within

the insulated copper conductors which supplied the lamps. Ed i-son realized that all these wires must go underground in largecities, and he faced the mechanical and electrical difficulties ofthat procedure , which were initially very great. Th e thirdcharacteristic was the invention in 1880 of an important divisionof the underground conductors into two classes: i . e., mains,which exclusively supplied the lamps, and feeders, which exclu-sively supplied the mains. By this means, a large saving wasmade in the total weight and cost of the copper conductingsystem.- Th e fourth, very soon after the starting of the Pe arlStreet Station, was the invention of the "three-wire-system",by which, although the conductors in the system were in-creased throughout from two to three, yet the total amount ofcopper in the system was again reduced to about one-third;because all the conductors could be considerably reduced insize.

The demands of the electric light and power industry onEdison's time were so great that during his stay at the MenloPark laboratory, he could give but little attention to the newdiscoveries and inventions which he was constantly making.29s

8/6/2019 tedison

12/20

NATION AL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVOne of these discoveries was in 1883the "'Edison effect" ; i. e.,a discharge phenomenon that occurred in the lamps, when beingexhausted; whereby a gaseous discharge passed from the glow-ing filament to the positive filament clamp, and also produced adeposit on the inner surface of the glass bulb. In later years,Fleming, De Forest and others developed this into the thermionictube, now so widely used. Ano ther discovery, which he made atNe wa rk in 1875, was a device for gene rating and detectinghigh-frequency electric waves, such as Hertz investigated in1889. and which later gave rise to modern radio telegraphy.Edison's generator was a vibrating-contact induction coil, oreven an electric trembling bell-, with one terminal connected towater-pipe groun d. Th e receiver was a small wooden darkbox, in which the opposed electrodes, consisting of graphitepencil points, could be brought into adjustable close proximity.When one electrode was connected to ground, and the other toany short open wire, small sparks could be seen to pass betweenthe minutely separated carbon points in the dark box, if thelatter was in the same building as the generator, or in some adja-cent building. The se results were so different from those ordi-narily associated with electrical circuits, that Edison thoughtthey might be some new phenomena, which he called "Ethericforce". It required long researches of later years, in variouscountries, to link Edison's experiments of 1875 with electro-magnetic waves and radio communication.Llewellyn Park Period (1887-1931)

Edison moved his laboratory from Menlo Park to New YorkCity, after his wife's death at Menlo Park, in August, 1884,and he gave up his home there soon afterw ards . In 1886, hemar ried Miss Mina Miller of Ak ron, Ohio. The y made theirhome at Glenmont, Llewellyn Park, West Orange, New Jersey,and there they lived for the rest of his life. Th eir thr eechildren are Madeleine, Charles and Theodo re. Edison builta commodious laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey, closeto Llewellvn Park, and commenced work there in October,1887.

296

8/6/2019 tedison

13/20

THOM AS ALVA EDISON KEN NELLYAt Orange, Edison perfected the phonograph, and made a

long series of inventions, including the alkaline storage battery,the moving-picture camera, synthetic rubber, the telescribe, themagnetic ore separator, various improvements in manufacturingconcrete and other chemical products, as well as many w ar inven-tions for the United States Governm ent. The list of theseOrange laboratory inventions is so long that i t cannot be at-tempted here. Fo r instance, he developed his moving picturecamera until he obtained some satisfactory reels of sporting con-tests. The moving picture industry of today acknowledges itsstart at the Orange laboratory.Personality

The outstanding qualit ies with which Edison impressed thosewho met him, were energy, frankness, courage and kindliness.He was tall, and powerfully built, with a large head and acountenance open and engaging, but leonine in repose.

H e was a terrific work er, especially before his fiftieth year .H e would often work at his laboratory or factory for twe ntyhours at a stretch, with only brief pauses for meals, concen-tratin g on one study at a t ime. Hi s assistants work ed in thesame way, and he did not spare them, because he never sparedhimself. It was not that he actually dismissed assistants whodid not work hard; i t was the easy-going assistant who dis-missed himself and disappeared from the picture. W hen en-gaged on some difficult problem like the incandescent lamp,he and his staff worked together days, nights, Sundays andholidays, until they became unmindful of t ime. H e was ableto infuse them with his own enthusiasm.

When working regularly at a less feverish pace, he securedrecreation from change of work. Above all things, he loved toinvent some new or better thing than the thing he saw. H eordinarily carried about in his pocket a standard small-sizedyellow-page notebook that might last a week. On the succes-sive pages of this he would write down inventive ideas as theyoccurred to him, usually with some small i l lustrative sketch orsketches, together with the date and subject. H e would stop

29 7

8/6/2019 tedison

14/20

NATIONA L ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVin the middle of a meal or conversation, or immediately onawaking, to write out an invention. In the course of a day,he might make twenty such rough designs. They might benearly all in the same field; or they might differ greatly,depending much upon his surroundings during that period.One or two of these he would proceed to try out himself. T heothers he would probably distribute among his assistants to tryout. H e was ever incredulous about any invention that workedout successfully on the first trial, and always wanted to knowwha t was the outsta ndin g difficulty to be overcom e. H e wasunfailing in encouragement and sympathy when difficultiesbeset an assistant 's path, and suggested methods of surmountingthem . Man y of his first-sketch inven tions proved to be imp rac-ticable, often for commercial reasons, and he did not expectmore than a small percentage to survive laboratory tests; butfertility of imagination ran through them all. Moreov er, henever sought to patent any process of which the inventive ideawas not his own. Mo re than one thousand Am erican patentswere issued to him during his career; but these were only forthe residual inventions that he selected as probably workableand economically capable of self suppo rt. Th e vast m ajoritynever got beyond the notebook or the laboratory stages.

His method of attacking an inventive problem of majorimportanc e was always the same. H e would attempt nothinguntil he had a clear comprehension of the existing state of theart, preferably from watching the latest process, or examiningmodels; but otherwise by reading up the literature of the art.His memory for facts was most retentive, and he had acquireda habit of reading ordinary descriptive text by the line, insteadof by the word, so that he could run through reports andpamphlets at great speed. He would then lay out in his note-book several plans for simultaneous experimen tal attack. Asa confirmed optimist, he never doubted that an open path couldbe found for reaching the desired goal, provided that everypossible plan was tried, regardless of established opinion ortextbook authority.

29 8

8/6/2019 tedison

15/20

THOM AS ALVA EDISON KEN NEE LYHis patience and tenacity in following up experimental

improvem ents were most remarkable. He seemed to defy dis-couragem ent. He would spend weeks at a t ime on the improv e-ment of the phonograph, teaching it , as he said, to say "specie".The delicate sybillant associated with the c was difficult forthe instrum ent to render . It would retu rn the word as"spe e ee". H e succeeded finally to his satisfaction, but notwithout trying a very large number of devices.

In temperam ent he was simple, modest, direct and kindly. Itwas impossible for him to pose or assume airs. Althoug h hispractical knowledge was extensive in many branches of science,he never claimed to be more than an inventor. W ith thealertness of his active mind, he tended to take a definite opinionon any proposition that might be presented to him; but hewould listen very tolerantly to opposite views, and give waypleasantly to facts or dem onstration. In general, howeve r, hisviews proved to be reliable and based upon experien ce. H epossessed a certain charm of manner which endeared him tohis associates. Fu rther mo re, he had the rare gift of securingthe mutual good will of his assistants; so that dissension amongthem was very exceptional. It is generally admitted that hewon esteem and goodwill everywhere. His only detractors havebeen those who did not know him personally.

As an evidence of the loyalty of Edison's associates to himpersonally, it may be pointed out that, in 1918, a voluntary asso-ciation was formed, called the "Edison Pioneers". The membersare "Those persons who were associated with Thomas A.Edison, or connected with his work up to and including theyear 1885 ." Associate mem bers are those who came later(1886-1931, inclusiv e). The Ediso n Pionee rs meet annuallyin New Yo rk City on M r. Ediso n's birthday. At the presentdate ( 19 32 ), there are 100 mem bers and 136 associates. Thismemoir has been prepared with the help of the organization.

At public receptions, he was shy and retiring. H e dreadedto be called upon to make a speech. In private life, howev er,he showed a remarkable talent for humorous narrative, and he

29 9

8/6/2019 tedison

16/20

NATIONAL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRSVOL. XVenjoyed listening to a good story. Hi s life was a happy one.He was of very temperate habits, except in regard to hours ofwo rk. To the acquisition of wealth he was indifferent, ex ceptfor the opportunities i t brought for more inventions andaccomplishments.Honors and Awards

After his invention of the phonograph in 1877, honors cameto Edison with increasing rapidity. Th e following honoraryacademic degrees were conferred upon him: Ph.D. Union Col-lege, 1878; D.Sc. Princeton, 1915; LL.D. University of theState of New York, 1916.

The following is a partial list of his medals and decorations:Legion of Hono r, Fra nce , Chevalier 1879, Officer 1 881, Com -

mander 1889.American Institute of the City of New York, Medals of

Superiority, for Electric Pe n, 1878, for Mu ltiplying Pr ess,1878. Medals of Excellence for Chemical Telephone,1879. For Carbon Telephone, 1879.

Cross of Gran d Officer (C oun t) of the Crown of Italy, 1889.Rum ford Gold Medal, Am erican Academy of Arts & Sciences.Albert Medal of the British Society of Arts, 1892.Honorable Consulting Engineer, St. Louis Exposition, 1904.John Fritz Gold Medal, 1908.Rathenau Gold Medal (Germany), 1913.Civic Forum Gold Medal, 1915.Medal of the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, 1915.President of the Naval Consulting Board, 1915.Distinguished Service Medal of the United States Navy De-

partment, 1920.First Recipient of Edison Medal of American Institute of Elec-

trical Engineers, New York City, 1923.Membership in National Academy of Sciences, Washington,

D . C , April , 1927.Society of Arts and Sciences Gold Medal, 1928.Congressional Gold Medal, 1928.

300

8/6/2019 tedison

17/20

THOMAS AL.VA EDISONPatents

The following is a list of 1,091 American Patents grantedby the United States Patent Office to Edison during his career.They are listed according to the numbers whose applicationswere executed by him in each successive year between 1868and 1928, inclusive, repr esen ting over sixty yea rs of inventiveactivity. Th e individual titles of these applications up to theyear 1926 are recorded in the Biography of Dyer, Martin andMeadowcroft (Bibliography No. 1). During the same work-ing period he also had received up to 1910, 1,239 foreignpatents, distributed among 34 foreign countries.

No. of No. ofpatents Date patents Dategranted executed granted executedI 1868 22 , Q 0 04 l 86 9 12 I 9 0 I7 1870 20 TQ028 1871 17 1903

38 1872 l8. I g 0 425 1873 30 ICK)5IS l 8 7 4 18 i9o611 187s 19 150712 1876 24 I 9 O 320 1877 12 I Q 0 914 1878 20 i gI014 1879 2 3 IQII60 I88O 19 191289 1881 4 1913107 1882 6 191464 1883 2 I 9 T S24 1884 S 191617 1885 4 191729 1886 1 191819 1887 16 191945 1888 4 192027 1889 1 192136 1890 3 192235 1891 6 19235 1892 7 19245 1893 5 192S0 1894 5 19260 1895 2 19271 1896 2 192S12 18979 189811 1899 1091 Total

301

8/6/2019 tedison

18/20

NATION AL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS VOL. XVChemical Manufactures

In addition to factories for producing dynamos, motors,incandescent lamps, etc., Edison designed and operated plantsfor the manu facture of cement, benzene, carbolic acid, myr-bane aniline oil, aniline salt and paraphenylene diamine . Anumber of these plants were established temporarily for mili-tary purposes during the great war, but others are still inoperation.Termination

The long, industrious and internationally famous career ofEdison terminated by his death at 8:24 world time (Green-wich Civil Tim e) on the 18th of O ctober, 1931, in the 85thyear of his age at his home in Glenmont, Orange, New Jersey.President Hoover, receiving the news on the battleship"Arkansas" in Chesapeake Bay, issued by radio a nation-widecommemorat ive address.On the evening of October 21st, 1931, following his inter-ment, being also the fiftieth anniversary of his effective inven-tion of the successful incandescent lamp, at the suggestion ofPresident Hoover, the Central Station system lights wereswitched off for one minute over extensive areas of the NorthAmerican continentthe United States and Canadaas anation-wide tribute to the great inventor.

Posthumous HonorsShortly after Mr. Edison's death, a number of memorial

meetings were held in different countries in honor of his lifeand accomplishme nts. At these meetings resolutions wererecorded.Thus, the Committee on "Production and Applicat ion ofLight" of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, in itsannual report for 1932 {Electrical Engineering, June, 1932,pp. 447-453), concluded with the following statement:

"The Committee on Production and Application of Light can-not conclude its report without allusion to the passing of thefounder of the electric lighting industry . His death on Octobei302

8/6/2019 tedison

19/20

THOM AS ALVA KDISON KENN ELLY18, 1931, was the signal for an expression of world-w ide app re-ciation of the services and of the life of the man whom elec-trical engineers have held in high regard by reason of hisinauguration of electric light and power as a widespread serviceto the public. Edison passes but his work goes on. He livesin the esteem of those who carry on under the banner whichhe raised."

The Chekoslovakian National Committee of the InternationalElectrotechnical Commission transmitted the following resolu-tion to the Central Office in London:

"The Chekoslovakian Committee has the honor to present inthe name of all the scientific and technical bodies in Cheko-slovakia, the following proposition:

'Th at the nam e of the great Am erican inventor Edisonshould be assigned to an electrotechnical unit.'

"The Chekoslovakian Committee hopes that this motion maybe accepted by all the National Committees who desire toexpress their gratitude to the genius of T. A. Edison."Partial List of Edison Biographies"Edison, His Life and Inventions," by Dyer, Mart in andMeadowcroft, Harper and Bros., ^1929, 2 Vols., Illus."Edison, the Man and his Work," by George S. Bryan, A. A.

Knopf, 1926, 330 pp., Illus."Thomas Alva Edison, Sixty Years of an Inventor 's Life," by

F . A. Jones, T. Y. Crowell and Co., N. Y., 362 pp., Illus."Thomas A. Edison, Benefactor of Mankind," by F. T. Miller,J. C. Wins ton Co., Phila., 1931, 320 pp., Illus."Edison Honored Throughout the Entire World," Associat ion

of Edison Illuminating Companies, 1929, 63 pp., Illus."Thomas Alva Edison," Addresses del ivered at the Presenta-tion of the Congressional Medal, Oct. 20, 1928, Illus."Recollections of Edison," by D. T. Marshall, Christopher Pub.House, Boston, 1931, 117 pp., Illus.

303

8/6/2019 tedison

20/20

NATION AL ACADEMY BIOGRAPHICAL MEM OIRS VOL. XVB I B L I O G R A P H Y

The phonograph and its future. No rth Ame rican Review, Vol. 126,May-June, 1878, New York, pp. 527-536.On a magnetic bridge or balance for measuring magnetic conductivity.Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement ofScience, Vol. 36, 1887, Salem, Mass., pp. 92-94.On the pyromagnetic dynamo: A machine for producing electricitydirectly from fuel. Proceed ings of the Ame rican Association forthe A dvancement of Science, Vol. 36, 1887, Salem, M ass., pp. 94-98.The perfected phonograph. No rth American Review, Vol. 146, June,1888, New York, pp. 641-650.The concentration of iron ore. By John Birkinbine and Thomas A .Edison. Transactions of the American Institute of M ining Engi-neers, Vol. 17, 1889, New York, pp. 728-744."Mr. Edison's Researches on Roentgen Rays," E. J. Houston and A. E.Kennelly, The Electrical W orld, New York, M arch, 1896, Vol. 27,p. 308."The New Edison Storage Battery," A. E. Kennelly, Transactions of theAmerican Institute of Elec trical Eng ineers, May, 1901, Vol. 18, pp.219-230.

A complete manual of the Edison phonograph. By George E. Tewks -bury. United States Phono graph Com pany, New ark, N. J., 1897,92 pp. Introduction by Thomas A . Eidson, pp. 10-12.Edison's impressions of Europea n industrie s. [A record of questionsand answ ers during an interview.] Scientific Ame rican, Vol. 105,Novem ber 18, 1911, New York , p . 445.Indus trial preparedness for peace. Perso nal experiences during theindustrial upheaval that followed the outbreak of the war . Aninterview with Mr. Edison. Scientific American, Vol. 115, Decem-ber 2, 1916, New York, p. 497. [In the interview h ere published,the editors have omitted the questions in order to present an uninter-rupted narrative.]

30 4