Edison's Eclipse Adventure

Thomas Edison (1847–1931) is the best-known inventor in American history.

- Stella Cottam

Every time you turn on an electric light, you are using a modern version of his electric light bulb. Every time you listen to recorded music or watch a movie, you are benefiting from his pioneering work in recording sound and live action. Not many people, however, know about Edison’s less successful invention of the tasimeter or the role it played in an eclipse expedition to Rawlins, Wyoming Territory, in July 1878.

INVENTOR IN THE MAKING

Edison, the youngest of seven children, had only three months of formal education. When his mother, a former schoolteacher, overheard Thomas’s teacher accuse her son of muddled thinking, she pulled him out of school. He later said that her faith in his abilities and her nurturing of his curiosity were what formed him.

As an adolescent, he went to work for a railway company, selling newspapers and snacks. While on the job, he was permitted to conduct scientific experiments in the baggage car until he caused a fire with his chemicals. Edison’s deafness has been attributed to his being beaten around the ears by the conductor who threw him off the train after the fire was discovered.