Edison delivered. By 1900, his light system, phonograph business, and new movie industry had changed the lives of everyone in America. But even more importantly, Edison embodied an attitude that Americans believed best described themselves. There was nothing The Wizard of Menlo Park could not do (and, therefore, nothing that we could not do) once he/we set our minds to it. Sometimes he succeeded immediately (according to his story of the phonograph) and sometimes it took a decade (50,000 experiments to develop the alkaline storage battery), but eventually he got it right. Almost everyone admires his quotation: “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” America’s self-image and self-confidence grew as Edison’s reputation grew. No wonder several historians have claimed: he invented the twentieth century. [1]

Of course, the reality was more complex. In the 1890s, Edison dropped out of the electric business and lost another fortune experimenting with low-grade iron ore deposits in the east. His efforts to make a quality hearing aid failed and his experiments with x-rays proved that new technology can have pitfalls. [2]

Still, the spirit of the times was optimistic. In 1900, you could enter a building and see outdoor events or contemporary news (called “actualities”) projected on a screen. At the same time, the cheaper improved phonographs made it possible for middle class families to enjoy a concert in their own homes. Who could not see the future as bright and rosy? Even his failures bore the tint of success. When discussing the four million dollar iron-ore mining fiasco with Frank Dyer, his attorney, Edison said, “It’s gone, but we had a hell of a time spending it.” [3]

Edison often took someone else's invention and made it better.  The telegraph is the perfect example.  Morse's invention revolutionized human communication, but it had its limits.  Edison made it practical, both quicker and more energy efficient.  These improvements made his reputation in the business world, but that was not enough.  Edison quickly learned that his best advertising gimmick was himself, and he loved the attention. One reporter said, “Edison is the Aladdin’s lamp of the newspaper man.” [4]  Some historians criticize him for his flair for self-promotion. I say he was the first to realize that publicity influences market share and image determines perceptions of quality. In the public’s mind, “Edison” quickly came to mean “the latest and best.”

What makes Edison the first great twentieth century inventor was his willingness to delegate responsibility. The problems involved in late nineteenth and early twentieth century technology were too complex (and too expensive) for one man to handle alone. Edison determined which problems had to be addressed and then assigned teams of inventors with appropriate mechanical and engineer skills. With the light system, there were many teams. One worked on the filament, another the vacuum in the lamp, and a third on the generator. Edison demanded that his men keep accurate notes to avoid redundancy, to determine possible new directions, and to win patent battles. Edison saw himself as overseer, guide, and inspirational leader. His original group of 13 at Menlo Park in 1876 had swollen to 250 in West Orange by 1911. Edison was not just a man. He had become an industry.

If Edison was sometimes lucky, he also deserves credit for making his luck work for him. The phonograph was designed to fulfill a business need. 1877 experiments with the automatic telegraph and nearly useless Bell telephone lead to a machine that Edison believed had a market in the business community, storing letters, speeches, and historical documents. The public preferred it play tunes. By the 1890s, the market for recorded music seemed to have no limit.

Scholars today debate who deserves credit for the invention of the motion picture camera (kinetoscope). In his 1888 caveat to the patent office, Edison said he would “devise an instrument that should do for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear.”[5]  Preference often depends on national pride, selective memory, and trust or distrust of popular History. The truth is several inventors were working on the project at the same time. While one was more advanced in one area, another excelled in a different area. All contributed and all learned (or stole if you like) from the others. Such debate says more about our twenty-first century need to be “number one” than it does about the inventing process. It avoids the question: “When is an idea an invention, and when is an invention still just an idea?”

In 1929 at the fiftieth anniversary celebration of the invention of the incandescent lamp (called “Light’s Golden Jubilee”), President Hoover said Edison’s greatest invention was the invention factory. I believe that his greatest discovery was that the invention process is never over. If you do not constantly improve your product and decrease the selling price, your competition will. History does not remember who made the great improvements, but the businessman knows those improvements are what make sales possible. Edison recognized this need and constantly worked to improve his products. For example, he claimed to invent the phonograph one day in 1877, but he spent a lifetime perfecting it. [6]  In 1902, he perfected the Gold Molded cylinder record that meant each copy was as good as the original. In 1912, he created the Blue Amberol records, which captured the truest acoustic sound ever.

History has a life all its own. Every biography reveals as much about the biographer and his/her times as it does about its subject. Edison both defines his time and transcends it. He was both a rebel inventor (“There ain’t no rules here. We’re trying to accomplish something.”) and a conservative businessman (Edison industries lasted from the early 1870s to beyond his death.) He sometimes contradicted himself and was always complex. At this Chautauqua, you will see why The Old Man was controversial yesterday and today.

When Edison died on October 18, 1931, he held 1,093 patents. If he didn’t exactly invent the twentieth century, there is something about his uniquely American character to make us wish he did.