Thomas Edison and his great inventions  
                           

              How Many Inventions has Thomas Edison?

                 Thomas Edison, lived between 1847-1931, was an inventor and businessman born in Ohio and holds the patents of over 1, 000 products including but obviously not limited to the phonograph, motion picture camera, and carbon microphone. It is hard to pick just one of his  inventions as being his most important one. It is safe to say that the incandescent light bulb is his most famous invention. Even though most of the people know him for his inventions, there is so much more to talk about this great scientist. His dynamic nature puts him at the top of my list for the most forward thinking. Including his inventions, he also held revolutionary and controversial views on such topics such as life and the hereafter, politics, national policy and currency. He quoted in the New York Times as saying “Gold is a relic of Julius Caesar, and interest is an invention of Satan.” At times, we may think that he was on to something, and let’s remember that he passed 3 years after Black Tuesday, and the start of the Great Depression. Among all his successes  Edison holds 15 awards in life and after death. His laboratory was his home, and is now a historical destination in New Jersey. It is no doubt that Edison’s contributions’ revolutionized many industries and made possible for the modern world we know today.

Who Invented the First Steam Engine?

                                

        James Watt and the Discovery of Steam Engine

             Some historians believe that the first steam driven machine (steam engine) was conceived in ancient China according to the the collection of works contained in the Tiangong Kaiwu, a scientific and military journal maintained by China’s government at the time. Although recreations of the contraption were attempted, the practicality of the invention rendered useless for travel. There are also records of similar contraptions in Ancient Rome and Greece.

The first modern implementation of steam engine came about as a solution to the  coal miners. An entrepreneur and inventor Thomas Newcomen (1664-1729) originally designed a pump driven by the pressure of water evaporation. Around 1775, an inventor named James Watt (1736- 1819) set out to improve the steam pump by making it more energy efficient, and eventually adapted it to produce a rotary motion. This adaptation allowed the engine to be used for more than just pumping water. Many overlook the fact that the steam engine we know today might not have been reached to today. While trying to bring his invention mainstream, Watt faced increasing financial hardship. The success of his invention may not have been realized if it were not for the partnership of Matthew Boulton. Their partnership, and what they produced, was the spark of the industrial revolution.

How was Electricity Discovered by Benjamin Franklin

         Is it True That Electricity was Discovered by an Experiment Conducted by Benjamin Franklin Using a Kite and  a Bolt of Lightning?

 

               Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was known for many things as an inventor. When we were children, we often heard the stories of great men Benjamin Franklin. One of those stories is that Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity when his kite was struck by lightning. Many scholars reject this story. They say the amount of electricity produced by a single bolt of lightning is enough to kill a man on his boots. Others say that Benjamin Franklin himself, never wrote of the experiment, and the only witness was Benjamin Franklin’s son. Further evidence used to debunk this myth is the fact that he had articles published in London by Peter Collinson, one year before the kite experiment. Although this might be a farfetched story, there was indeed a great many experiments to learn about electricity in London at the time. A lightning rod, not a kite, was used.

Among the many great accomplishments in Benjamin Franklin’s lifetime was the invention of bifocal glasses, mapping the Gulf Stream, and an advocate for anti-slavery coalitions. Arguably his most impressive contribution to humanity and science was his serving on a committee of five responsible for drafting the Declaration of Independence, and signing the United States Constitution.