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Edison: Inventing the Century by Neil Baldwin

From Booklist: The Wizard of Menlo Park always attracted a great deal of press and biographical attention because his inventions--the lightbulb, microphone, phonograph, moving pictures--appeared nigh miraculous. Edison himself hated the Merlin-like moniker, claiming only to have been a diligent man. Baldwin agrees he was--and reports that at 65, Thomas Alva Edison worked a 112-hour week. Domestically, Edison was not so successful. Thomas Jr. became so estranged from his celebrated father that he dropped the surname and skulked about under various aliases. And Edison cut off relations with a daughter who had married an officer in the kaiser's army. Was Edison a flawed father or titanic exemplar of self-made individualism? Baldwin eschews categorical conclusions and rather invites the curious into Edison's homes, labs, and factories where they can make their own inspection. Libraries without any Edison biography (the last, by Wyn Wachhorst, is 15 years old and o.p.) should seriously consider this one, completely researched and ably executed. Gilbert Taylor

Inventing the Future: A Photobiography of Thomas Alva Edison by Marfe Ferguson Delano, David Edward Edison Sloane (Foreword)

Thomas Edison’s 1,093 patented inventions include the light bulb, the phonograph, and significant contributions to the fields of photography and filmmaking and to what ultimately would become the national power grid. Edison’s gritty way of persevering—working ’round the clock with many assistants, catnapping on his lab table, trying things over and over again until he finally made a breakthrough—gave birth to the modern research laboratory, where hypotheses are proposed and then tested. Combining lively text, rare period photographs, and Edison’s own words, Delano paints a memorable portrait of this prolific American genius. The foreword by Edison’s great-grandson adds a personal note to this exciting American success story that will spark kids’ interest in science and inspire a new generation of inventors.

Fleet Fire: Thomas Edison and the Pioneers of the Electric Revolution by L. J. Davis

The electric revolution, which eclipsed the Industrial Revolution by the end of the 19th century and continues to this day, changed our world forever. FLEET FIRE tells us how it all began. In an engaging and entertaining narrative, L. J. Davis fields a cast of both prominent and forgotten characters, from dedicated scientists and mischievous rogues to enlightened amateurs who lit the sparks of discovery. Franklin’s kite, Davenport’s electromagnet, Morse’s telegraph, Cyrus Field’s transatlantic cable, and Edison’s phonograph are but a few of the achievements Davis discusses. Explaining the science in lucid prose, FLEET FIRE conveys the arc of discovery during one of the most creative epochs in the history of mankind.

At Work With Thomas Edison: 10 Business Lessons from America's Greatest Innovator by Blaine McCormick, John P. Keegan

From Publishers Weekly: McCormick, a management professor at Baylor University and author of Ben Franklin's 12 Rules of Management, is obviously enchanted with Edison and believes the inventor's talents haven't been fully recognized. In addition to patenting over 1,000 inventions, Edison was a capable businessman who recognized that innovation is a business, emphasizing the importance of creating a company that produces more than just one good idea. According to McCormick, Edison never invented simply to create a new thing, but rather focused on crafting something that would have a practical use. Edison also believed that one invention often led to a series of inventions, citing the link between the phonograph, telegraph and motion picture. Among the key lessons readers can learn from Edison are "limit your way to greater creativity" (Edison felt his deafness helped his creativity) and "the greatest innovators have made a lot of F's" (failure is essential to inventions). McCormick includes the inventor's own words as well as success stories about others who, like Edison, have achieved success through untraditional methods (including one of this season's top success stories, General Electric CEO Jack Welch). This book will appeal to those curious about Edison as well as anyone seeking tips on achieving entrepreneurial success. The writing is clear and rife with rarely discussed details that offer a new perspective on the achievements of a great American inventor. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Executioner's Current: Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and the Invention of the Electric Chair by Richard Moran

From Publishers Weekly: This account opens at New York's Auburn Penitentiary, in 1890, with a bloody, scorched body strapped in the electric chair. The first electrocution concluded a courtroom drama involving a humanitarian dentist, an ambitious attorney, an illiterate murderer and the great American inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Edison. Edison joined the debate over electrocution in an effort to discredit his rival, George Westinghouse, whose system of alternating current, or AC, was rapidly outpacing Edison's direct current, or DC, in the race to electrify America. Playing upon concerns about public safety and eager to brand Westinghouse electricity the "executioner's current," Edison advised legislators that a shock of AC killed most efficiently and, disregarding his own professed opposition to capital punishment, suggested a design for the chair. Meanwhile, Westinghouse surreptitiously underwrote the appeals of the condemned man, William Kemmler, challenging the constitutionality of electrocution. Withholding his personal opposition to the death penalty until the book's final sentence, Moran (Knowing Right from Wrong: The Insanity Defense of Daniel McNaughton), a sociologist at Mount Holyoke College, marshals his sources-committee reports, legislative hearings, court decisions-to argue that the search for a humane method of execution does not resolve the moral dilemma, but instead leaves capital punishment in the hands of alleged experts who are too often guided by self-interest. For all his careful documentation and apparent impartiality, Moran freely borrows from sensational newspaper stories, many based on second-hand accounts, to accentuate the horrors of electrocution and portray the condemned as victims. With Edison's name in the title and macabre execution scenes in the opening pages, this book should attract browsers as well as politically engaged readers. 22 b&w illus.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Thomas Edison and Modern America: A Brief History With Documents by Theresa M. Collins, Lisa Gitelman, Gregory Jankunis

Thomas A. Edison remains rooted in the popular imagination primarily as the inventor of the practical electric light, but he also continues to function in the lexicons of advertising and politics as a symbol of American individualism, ingenuity, and know-how. Introduced here with a broad range of primary sources for discussion, the American inventor emerges as a prolific mind, a tireless worker, and an inveterate self-promoter. Examples of Edison's own experimental notes, his personal correspondence, as well as press accounts provide an opportunity to explore the themes of modernization and the American ideology of progress. The volume includes an extended introduction, headnotes to the documents, illustrations, a chronology, discussion questions, a bibliography, and an index.

Edison's Kinetoscope and Its Films: A History to 1896 (Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture, No. 65) by Ray Phillips

Motion pictures were first seen in 1894, when Thomas Edison introduced the Kinetoscope, a device for individually looking at film through a viewer. Over the next three years, Edison manufactured almost 1,000 Kinetoscopes and produced some 250 films to show in them. A million people worldwide first saw motion pictures through these devices. The book tells in detail how Kinetoscopes worked, how they were sold, and describes the "parlors" to which the public flocked, fascinated by the novelty of moving images. It examines how the machines were copied by others and later eclipsed by the advent of projection. It also indicates where surviving machines can be found in the United States and Europe. The book concludes with an index to Edison's films between 1892 and 1896, and presents titles, filming dates, subject descriptions, and information on the location of surviving copies. Copiously illustrated, the book is a vital research tool for all students of motion picture history.

Thomas A. Edison and His Kinetographic Motion Pictures by Charles Musser

From the Back Cover: Much controversy has surrounded Thomas A. Edison's role in the birth of motion pictures. His earliest biographers gave all honor to him; later historians gave credit to his assistants or to foreign inventors whose recognition Edison stole. Charles Musser provides a balanced assessment, arguing that while Edison left the day-to-day experimentation to his talented employees, he provided the ideas and encouragement as well as financial support. Without him, the technical hurdles would not have been overcome so quickly. As time went on, and innovations in the motion picture business shifted from improving machines to improving the moving pictures themselves and the methods of exhibiting them, Edison's Laboratory lost its advantage. After three decades of patent wars and attempted monopolization of cameras and projectors, the battle moved away from the inventor and toward the producers and nickelodeon owners. Edison briefly experimented with a home movie projector, to steal a march on his rivals, but he way ahead of his time. After thirty years, he closed down his movie studio and moved on to other projects. This brief, informative story of Edison's key contributions to the invention of motion pictures is heavily illustrated and beautifully designed.

Edison Motion Pictures, 1890-1900: An Annotated Filmography by Charles Musser (Editor)