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Library of American Biography
Thomas A. Edison and the Modernization of America
Thomas A. Edison and the Modernization of America is a captivating narrative that chronicles America’s most formidable inventor. Martin Melosi creates a dynamic historical narrative by relating Edison’s personal history to larger cultural, political and economic trends. Melosi adeptly reveals the workings of Edison’s mind as well as his inventions’ lasting affect on the nation. The titles in the Library of American Biography Series make ideal supplements for American History Survey courses or other courses in American history where figures in history are explored. Paperback, brief, and inexpensive, each interpretive biography in this series focuses on a figure whose actions and ideas significantly influenced the course of American history and national life. In addition, each biography relates the life of its subject to the broader themes and developments of the times.
- GenresNonfiction
221 pages, Paperback
First published January 17, 1997
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About the author
Martin V. Melosi
26 books1 followerMartin Victor Melosi is Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen University Professor and the director of the Center for Public History at the University of Houston in Houston, Texas.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 11, 2026
On October 21, 1929, a parade of celebrities attended an event in Dearborn, Michigan to commemorate one of the great achievements of the age. Dubbed “Light’s Golden Jubilee,” it was a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the invention of the incandescent light bulb. Organized by Edward Bernays and hosted by Henry Ford, among the five hundred guests present were Will Rogers, Marie Curie, Jane Addams, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Adolph Ochs, Orville Wright, and the president and first lady of the United States, Herbert and Lou Hoover. Yet even in this distinguished crowd the center of attention was the father of the light bulb himself, Thomas Alva Edison, who recreated the moment he first lit one for a nationwide radio audience. Sitting in his now-relocated laboratory, the 82-year-old inventor connected two wires, at which point the announcer declared to his listeners, “And Edison said, ‘Let there be light!’”
As the hyperbole indicated, the event was an acknowledgement of the impact of the incandescent light bulb on the lives of millions of people throughout the world. And yet it was just one of the hundreds of inventions Edison produced over the course of his career, many of which led to the creation of new industries or revolutionized whole sectors of the American economy. Recounting the scope of his achievements within the pages of a single compact book is no small feat, yet it is one that Martin Melosi accomplishes with aplomb. Drawing upon the vast range of materials produced by and about his subject, he provides a succinct study that manages to summarize Edison’s myriad accomplishments within the arc of a long and ever-changing career.
To do so, Melosi defines three distinct periods in Edison’s life, the first and most famous of which was that of his early years as an inventor. As a young boy growing up in Michigan, Edison demonstrated an inventive streak at an early age. Chafing in a structured educational environment, he preferred to experiment on his own, discovering through a process of trial and error. This led by the end of the 1860s to his first patents in telegraphy, a field with which he was familiar thanks to his work as a telegrapher in the Midwest. Melosi shows how Edison’s experience during this period not only provided a practical education in electrical engineering, but taught him as well about the business side of inventing, most notably the need to find a market for his inventions if he were to profit from them.
These lessons stood Edison in good stead as he embarked on a full-time career as an inventor. By the mid-1870s, Edison had earned enough to build his “invention factory” at Menlo Park, where he headed a team of experimenters and engineers who over the next quarter-century produced a breathtaking variety of new devices. The incandescent light bulb was just the most famous of these, and was followed by the phonograph, the movie camera, and alkaline storage batteries, among others. Realizing the potential profits of such inventions increasingly required him to shift from selling his inventions to manufacturing and distributing them himself, however. This formed the second period of Edison’s life, as he found his time increasingly taken up by his activities as an industrialist. The majority of this effort was focused on developing the electrical infrastructure necessary to support the incandescent light bulb, which required numerous other inventions both to supply electricity and to exploit its increasing availability.
By the 1890s, Edison’s impact could be felt in the lives of millions of people throughout North America and Europe, and he was hailed as one of the wizards of the industrial age. Increasingly this fame came to dominate his activities, and led to the final phase of his life. By the turn of the century, the name Edison was synonymous with progress, one that many sought to exploit to their own advantage. Among them was Josephus Daniels, the Secretary of the Navy, who with the United States’s entry into the First World War asked the renowned inventor to serve on the Naval Consulting Board. Edison’s approach to research, however, clashed with the scientifically-driven team methods that were increasingly the norm in laboratories across America. Though still the head of a company with a diverse range of activities, he found himself no longer at the forefront of discovery and innovation in the modern economy.
Edison’s celebrity among the general public was undimmed, however, and in his final years he remained a visible and often-quoted figure about the issues facing the modern world. Melosi’s book does a fantastic job of encapsulating these achievements for his reader, showing how they both advanced and embodied the development the nation was undergoing. While his explanation of the details of some of his inventions often suffers from this brevity, this is more than offset by the effectiveness with which he summarizes his subject’s business enterprises and other public endeavors. For anyone seeking a short yet informative introduction to such an accomplished and pivotal individual, this is one to read.
As the hyperbole indicated, the event was an acknowledgement of the impact of the incandescent light bulb on the lives of millions of people throughout the world. And yet it was just one of the hundreds of inventions Edison produced over the course of his career, many of which led to the creation of new industries or revolutionized whole sectors of the American economy. Recounting the scope of his achievements within the pages of a single compact book is no small feat, yet it is one that Martin Melosi accomplishes with aplomb. Drawing upon the vast range of materials produced by and about his subject, he provides a succinct study that manages to summarize Edison’s myriad accomplishments within the arc of a long and ever-changing career.
To do so, Melosi defines three distinct periods in Edison’s life, the first and most famous of which was that of his early years as an inventor. As a young boy growing up in Michigan, Edison demonstrated an inventive streak at an early age. Chafing in a structured educational environment, he preferred to experiment on his own, discovering through a process of trial and error. This led by the end of the 1860s to his first patents in telegraphy, a field with which he was familiar thanks to his work as a telegrapher in the Midwest. Melosi shows how Edison’s experience during this period not only provided a practical education in electrical engineering, but taught him as well about the business side of inventing, most notably the need to find a market for his inventions if he were to profit from them.
These lessons stood Edison in good stead as he embarked on a full-time career as an inventor. By the mid-1870s, Edison had earned enough to build his “invention factory” at Menlo Park, where he headed a team of experimenters and engineers who over the next quarter-century produced a breathtaking variety of new devices. The incandescent light bulb was just the most famous of these, and was followed by the phonograph, the movie camera, and alkaline storage batteries, among others. Realizing the potential profits of such inventions increasingly required him to shift from selling his inventions to manufacturing and distributing them himself, however. This formed the second period of Edison’s life, as he found his time increasingly taken up by his activities as an industrialist. The majority of this effort was focused on developing the electrical infrastructure necessary to support the incandescent light bulb, which required numerous other inventions both to supply electricity and to exploit its increasing availability.
By the 1890s, Edison’s impact could be felt in the lives of millions of people throughout North America and Europe, and he was hailed as one of the wizards of the industrial age. Increasingly this fame came to dominate his activities, and led to the final phase of his life. By the turn of the century, the name Edison was synonymous with progress, one that many sought to exploit to their own advantage. Among them was Josephus Daniels, the Secretary of the Navy, who with the United States’s entry into the First World War asked the renowned inventor to serve on the Naval Consulting Board. Edison’s approach to research, however, clashed with the scientifically-driven team methods that were increasingly the norm in laboratories across America. Though still the head of a company with a diverse range of activities, he found himself no longer at the forefront of discovery and innovation in the modern economy.
Edison’s celebrity among the general public was undimmed, however, and in his final years he remained a visible and often-quoted figure about the issues facing the modern world. Melosi’s book does a fantastic job of encapsulating these achievements for his reader, showing how they both advanced and embodied the development the nation was undergoing. While his explanation of the details of some of his inventions often suffers from this brevity, this is more than offset by the effectiveness with which he summarizes his subject’s business enterprises and other public endeavors. For anyone seeking a short yet informative introduction to such an accomplished and pivotal individual, this is one to read.
March 20, 2012
THOMAS EDISON WAS THE MAN!! I loved reading about all of his inventions, creations and perseverance. The author/biography series does an awesome job at incorperating family and personal life too, which adds a nice touch. Well done.
September 9, 2012
I read this book in college for history. I enjoyed it despite having no prior interest in Thomas Edison. If you are interested in this era of history, I recommend this book.
July 1, 2013
A good synopsis that places the fertile and restive inventor in the context of his times.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews