1 Thomas Edison was a great thinker and inventor. He created several inventions that have helped to shape our world. Edison invented the phonograph, which was the first way to record sounds, voices, and music. He created the very first motion pictures, or movies. He also invented an electric voting machine. All of these ideas have been improved upon and are responsible for some of our most important technology today. But the light bulb was Edison’s chance to improve on someone else’s invention. Edison did make the electric light bulb much better, but he did not invent it.
2 One of Edison’s most famous inventions is the phonograph. Before the phonograph, sounds could not be recorded. You’ll only find a phonograph in a museum today, but you will find recorded sounds and music everywhere. It all started with the phonograph. Edison’s first motion picture was not like a modern movie cinema. It was actually a machine that only one person could look into. His motion pictures led to movie theaters, 3D movies, and IMAX. People may not think much about an electric voting machine, but counting votes by hand was a tedious process, and people can easily miscount. It may not seem like one of Edison’s most important inventions, but voting is how Americans choose the people that run this country. People have been improving Edison’s inventions for years, but his creative ideas are what gave other inventors things to improve.
3 Edison patented his light bulb in 1880. His light bulb was a huge success. It just wasn’t the first light bulb. A scientist named Humphry Davy created a light bulb about 80 years before Edison made his. It used the same basic principles as Edison’s light bulb, but it didn’t work very well. Scores of other inventors made improvements to the light bulb before Edison’s 1880 patent. So why do so many people think that Edison invented the light bulb? Edison invented the first light bulb that shined bright and lasted for a long time. Earlier light bulbs were not practical, but Edison made a light bulb that people would be able to use at home and work. No one else had done that before him.
4 Edison was a great inventor. Like other great inventors, some of his creations were completely original, and some were improvements on other inventors’ work. He made huge improvements to the light bulb, and other inventors are still making better light bulbs. Being an inventor is not always about making something brand new. It is about solving problems. Sometimes the biggest problem is how to make something work better.
