Thomas Alva Edison As an adolescent, Thomas Edison (the great American inventor) discovered some odd, discarded "Indian artifacts" and writings in a box at a public library in Port Huron, Michigan. Edison deciphered these important Fluxus Indian records and learned the following three things: An extremely creative group called the Fluxus Indians once lived in North America.The Fluxus Indians created a long list of ideas for future inventions. The Fluxus Indians also developed a concept of ARTIFICIAL CULTURES (see Fluxus--The Modern Art Movement). Thomas Edison embraced the Fluxus Indian list of ideas for future inventions as the agenda for most of his life's work. The Fluxus Indians had envisioned a variety of remarkable technological devices, and Edison worked to create them into existence. Among these inventions are the enhanced electric light bulb, the office duplicating machine, the record player, the movie camera and projector, and the Edison Effect (the basis of electronics). These inventions created modern nightlife, the recording industry, the movie industry, and the electronics industry, virtually the foundation of everyday life and popular culture in the twentieth century. The Fluxus Indians also anticipated television (They created the first television test pattern). The electrical vote recorder. Edison was locked in a fierce battle with Nikola Tesla over which form of electricity would be dominant, Edison's direct current or Tesla's alternating current. He had people hand out flyers touting the dangers of AC. Edison would pay children to bring him stray animals so his aide H.P. Brown, could experiment with alternating current "electricide," killing dogs and cats. Brown said he was doing research on the dangers of AC, and had the press watch him killing several animals. Edison decided that for public relations purposes he would back the bill on death by electrocution proposed. When he testified, he stated Westinghouse AC machines were the best way to execute people. When he testified that electrocution would be painless the bill was passed. The first person to be executed by electrocution was a man named Kemmler. The first jolt of electricity lasted 17 seconds, but Kemmler didn't die. Again, electricity was administered this time for more than a minute. Kemmler's body began to smoke. All who saw it were appalled. Edison was part of the group of industrialists which included such people as Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone and others. One of the very strong beliefs he had was there was life after death. His least successful invention as it has been called was a machine which he believed would be able to record the voices of the dead and prove their presence. The machine was said to consist of speakers, generators and other equipment he had created. An article was published in Modern Mechanix magazine which reported the experiment with this machine. The experiment had failed however. He thought when we die, we leave something of our selves and his machine had a very thin beam of light which it shined into the room which he said would detect the tiniest of particles and prove his theory. Interestingly he was testing this machine not long before he himself died. He was involved with the electrifying of trains and he drove the first Multiple-Unit train to depart Lackawanna Terminal in Hoboken in 1930. The service lasted for an amazing 54 years. None of us probably want to die, but Edison took this a step further. For the last few years of his life the only liquid he would drink was a pint of milk and he drank this every three hours. Edison would often make his opinions public and he was totally against the gold standard. He made a famous quote about it which stated “Gold is a relic of Julius Caesar, and interest is an invention of Satan.” Edison was the fair-haired boy of the community and received many awards and had many structures named after him. Many big towns and cities have schools named Edison. Even natural features were sometimes renamed to Edison, take Lake Thomas A. Edison in California as an example. Edison did most of his work in West Orange, New Jersey. Today his labs and work shops compose the Edison National Historic Site. There is a nearby area which contains the world’s first movie studio known as the “Black Maria”. There is a town named Edison, New Jersey which contains The Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum. It was never visited by Edison however. Strange when you consider the fact his parents were buried there. There is also a monument along the St. Clair River. Many companies have his name. Some we hear mentioned all the time and probably never connect them with Edison. There is Southern California Edison, Consolidated Edison, Detroit Edison and Edison Portland Cement Company to mention a few. The United States Navy had named a destroyer after Thomas Edison, it was the USS Edison. It was decommissioned a few months after World War II. In 1962 the Navy commissioned the USS Thomas A Edison a nuclear-powered submarine. Edison has been accused of taking credit for some things he didn’t actually invent even though he may have improved them. One of these inventions is one he is perhaps credited for the most, the incandescent light bulb which was actually invented by Joseph Swan who had patented his light bulb ten years before Edison, but this never stopped Edison from taking credit for it. In 1883 the U.S. Patent Office decided the patent filed by Edison for the bulb in 1879 was invalid. Edison’s bulb was better because Swan’s bulb would burn out after about 13 hours. Edison had a better vacuum pump so he was able to create bulbs which lasted much longer and had a better filament. There is no denying the fact Edison was a great inventor and his inventions are all around us to prove it.
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