Thomas Edison2 essays

Thomas Edison2 essays Thomas Edison was a man who influenced America more than anyone else. Some of the inventions he pioneered are still used to this day. He was a man who spent almost his entire life working as a scientist, and receiving more than 1,200 patents in his lifetime. (Anderson pg.7) Thomas Edisons life was probably twice as productive as a modern day chemist, he was a firm believer of an eight hour work day, eight hours in the morning, and eight in the afternoon. Aside from his amazing history as an adult Edison lived an equally exciting childhood. Thomas Edison was born in Milan Ohio on February 11, 1847. At the time, his father was owner of a successful shingle and lumber company. However with new railroads being built through Milan his father lost customers to the bigger companies which began to open. The Edisons were forced to move to Port Huron, where he first began his education. When he was only seven years old his teacher, the Reverend G.B. Engle considered Thomas to be a dull studen t, and was terrible in math. After three months of school his teacher called him "addled," which means confused or mixed up. Thomas stormed home.(minot, pg1) The next day, Nancy Edison brought Thomas back to school to talk to Reverend Engle. He told her that Thomas couldnt learn. His mother became so angry at the strict Reverend that she decided to home-school him.(minot 1) After a while his mother, a former teacher herself, recognized his un usual abilities to reason. She quickly got him interested in History and Classic books. Thomas however was strangely attracted to the subject of science. By the age of ten Thomas Edison had already been experimenting and by now owned a sizable quantity of chemicals. Unfortunately his experiments were often quite expensive and he found it his duty to pay for them. Because he didnt go to school he had plenty of time to earn money by himself. When he was only twelve, he began selling newspapers on ...