Watch a silent short of Thomas Edison, who invented the phonograph and incandescent electric lightThomas Edison, seen late in life in this video, was the most famous inventor in American history. Though he is best known for his invention of the phonograph and incandescent electric light, Edison took out 1,093 patents in a variety of fields, including electric light and power, telephony and telegraphy, and sound recording. His public image as a homespun, untutored genius actually concealed a thinker who was quite systematic and methodical and who collaborated closely with machinists, designers, and scientists in his laboratory at Menlo Park, N.J.(more)See all videos for this articleThomas EdisonThomas Edison demonstrates his tinfoil phonograph. Mathew Brady took this photograph in 1878.(more)Thomas Edison (born February 11, 1847, , , U.S.—died October 18, 1931, , New Jersey) was an American who, singly or jointly, held a world-record 1,093 . In addition, he created the world’s first industrial research .The role of chemistry in Thomas Edison's inventionsHow Thomas Edison changed the world.(more)See all videos for this article was the quintessential American in the era of Yankee ingenuity. He began his career in 1863, in the adolescence of the industry, when virtually the only source of electricity was primitive putting out a low-voltage . Before he died, in 1931, he had played a critical role in introducing the modern age of . From his laboratories and workshops emanated the , the carbon-button transmitter for the speaker and , the , a revolutionary generator of unprecedented efficiency, the first commercial electric light and system, an experimental electric , and key elements of , as well as a host of other inventions.Thomas Edison(more)Edison was the seventh and last child—the fourth surviving—of Samuel Edison, Jr., and Nancy Elliot Edison. At an early age he developed problems, which have been variously attributed but were most likely due to a familial tendency to . Whatever the cause, Edison’s strongly influenced his behaviour and career, providing the motivation for many of his inventions. Early years Thomas EdisonThomas Edison as a young boy.(more)In 1854 Samuel Edison became the keeper and carpenter on the Fort Gratiot military post near , , where the family lived in a substantial home. Alva, as the inventor was known until his second marriage, entered school there and attended sporadically for five years. He was imaginative and inquisitive, but, because much instruction was by rote and he had difficulty hearing, he was bored and was labeled a misfit. To compensate, he became an avid and omnivorous reader. Edison’s lack of formal schooling was not unusual. At the time of the the average American had attended school a total of 434 days—little more than two years’ schooling by today’s standards. In 1859 Edison quit school and began working as a trainboy on the railroad between and Port Huron. Four years earlier, the Michigan Central had initiated the commercial application of the by using it to control the movement of its trains, and the Civil War brought a vast expansion of and . Edison took advantage of the opportunity to learn telegraphy and in 1863 became an apprentice telegrapher., Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. [1] [2] [3] He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. [4], Thomas Edison, the prolific American inventor and entrepreneur, revolutionized the world with his inventions such as the phonograph and practical electric lighting systems, forever changing our way of life..