As a result of the extraordinary amount of time and work Edison put into promoting, and ultimately establishing America's first large scale commercial plant in New York City - and in spite of the fact that some of his cohorts at the New York Illuminating Company tended to ignore the concurrent Brockton achievement - the latter facility clearly represented a huge technological leap ahead of everything else in the field of central generation and distribution.... Developed at the very acme of Edison's fabulous career, it was patently obvious that the only plants that could record economically viable profits in small to medium sized cities throughout the world would be those employing its model 3-wire-feeder design....
Remarkably though, even as venture capitalists and contractors were tripping over each other applying for permits that mimicked small or medium sized Brockton-like central plants and networks, Edison always publicly verbalized his loyalty to the idea that his New York venture was his greatest achievement...." Perhaps this can best be understood via recognition of his strong personal identity with the great metropolis of New York City and its environs, as well as by considering his persistent dream of developing a critically important long range economic attachment to that city.
In any case, it was this fierce sense of "local patriotism" that led him to rank as only secondary the great significanceof the work he had pioneered earlier in Great Britain and Europe and later work in New England. But much more about this fascinating issue later...
1882 - 1883 "I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others..." Thomas Edison
The impetus that led to Edison's work in Brockton initially emanated from the highly significant technical and economic problems he had long been experiencing with his 2-wire stations in In Europe. It also evolved out of some of the menacing problems he continued to have with similar - but also "far from complete" - facilities he was trying toperfect in London, England, Appleton, Wisconsin, Sunbury, Pennsylvania and New York City.
Even though the mass-produced "free" light bulbs Edison felt obliged to provide his earliest customers at this time had attained a relatively high level of efficiency and durability, the relatively unsafe, crude and inflexible means by which current was still being produced and distributed left a very great deal to be desired. More than occasionally, for example, wire resistance, fuse problems and accompanying voltage drops in the New York facility - which had to be very carefully monitored and constantly "tweaked" by electricians - were resulting in "black days." Meanwhile, as both customers and workers were sometimes being injured - if not actually killed - by flaws in the New York system, his light bulbs - vs. the above systemic imperfections relating to the economic and safe generation and distribution of electricity - were being incorrectly perceived as the primary culprit....
It should be noted here, that an unfortunate personal shortcoming of this period in Edison's career was that, even though he clearly knew better, he decided to allow his Edison Construction Company to promote his still far from perfect New York plant as an entirely viable model for world-wide commercial use. But even with its truly marvelous "Jumbo" generator, underground wiring, etc., it possessed most of the same pretensions inherent in all of his previous 2-wire feeder operations..
Significantly, until Edison designed his Brockton, Massachusetts operation, all of his previous plants were fundamentally experimental - and incapable of transmitting economically viable quantities of electrical power for more than a couple of thousand feet from their respective generating stations. Moreover, he was fully aware that none of them were then capable of servicing the unique configuration patterns of the vast majority of the communities that were then rapidly emerging throughout the modern world.
In fact, the challenge of perfecting a centralized system that would bepractically anduniversally satisfactory to all of humanityat this time was so great that some of Edison's sophisticated economic backers tried to convince him to maintain his upon enhancing his already successful isolated (on-site) 3-wire operations....
Fortunately, this incertitude was marvelously eradicated when the irrepressible inventor came up with the design for his first standardized, centralized 3-wirefeeder system - in Brockton.
Unfortunately, while Edison's development of his Brockton fait accompli were of heroic proportion, it was during this period in his life that he was being hammered at every turn by fiercest types of critics and cutthroat competitors imagineable. Also during this most prolific period of his career, he was constantly plagued by the illness and impending death of his beloved wife.
Meanwhile, as reporters from prominent newspapers - including the New York Times - were gleefully lampooning him and eminent scientists were still questioning his ability to come up with a truly viable substitute for the gas lighting industry, the shrewd owners of the latter organizations were constantly trying to find ways to divert, undermine, and, or, co-opt him.
But while most men would have been rattled by these circumstances, this implacable young genius remained sharply focused upon his short term goals and his long range mission. A related quote from Volume 134 of Edison's 3,400 diaries reveals the extraordinary intensity of his commitment in the following terse manner: "Object, ....to effect imitation of all done by gas, so as to replace lighting by gas by lighting by electricity...."
Passionately dedicated to capturing the world market for electricity, it is not surprising that Edison remained doggedly obsessed with making a popular success out of his humongous 2-wire experiment in the Pearl Street section of lower New York City.
Even though the mass-produced "free" light bulbs Edison felt obliged to provide his earliest customers at this time had attained a relatively high level of efficiency and durability, the relatively unsafe, crude and inflexible means by which current was still being produced and distributed left a very great deal to be desired. More than occasionally, for example, wire resistance, fuse problems and accompanying voltage drops in the New York facility - which had to be very carefully monitored and constantly "tweaked" by electricians - were resulting in "black days." Meanwhile, as both customers and workers were sometimes being injured - if not actually killed - by flaws in the New York system, his light bulbs - vs. the above systemic imperfections relating to the economic and safe generation and distribution of electricity - were being incorrectly perceived as the primary culprit....
It should be noted here, that an unfortunate personal shortcoming of this period in Edison's career was that, even though he clearly knew better, he decided to allow his Edison Construction Company to promote his still far from perfect New York plant as an entirely viable model for world-wide commercial use. But even with its truly marvelous "Jumbo" generator, underground wiring, etc., it possessed most of the same pretensions inherent in all of his previous 2-wire feeder operations..
Significantly, until Edison designed his Brockton, Massachusetts operation, all of his previous plants were fundamentally experimental - and incapable of transmitting economically viable quantities of electrical power for more than a couple of thousand feet from their respective generating stations. Moreover, he was fully aware that none of them were then capable of servicing the unique configuration patterns of the vast majority of the communities that were then rapidly emerging throughout the modern world.
In fact, the challenge of perfecting a centralized system that would bepractically anduniversally satisfactory to all of humanityat this time was so great that some of Edison's sophisticated economic backers tried to convince him to maintain his upon enhancing his already successful isolated (on-site) 3-wire operations....
Fortunately, this incertitude was marvelously eradicated when the irrepressible inventor came up with the design for his first standardized, centralized 3-wirefeeder system - in Brockton.
Unfortunately, while Edison's development of his Brockton fait accompli were of heroic proportion, it was during this period in his life that he was being hammered at every turn by fiercest types of critics and cutthroat competitors imagineable. Also during this most prolific period of his career, he was constantly plagued by the illness and impending death of his beloved wife.
Meanwhile, as reporters from prominent newspapers - including the New York Times - were gleefully lampooning him and eminent scientists were still questioning his ability to come up with a truly viable substitute for the gas lighting industry, the shrewd owners of the latter organizations were constantly trying to find ways to divert, undermine, and, or, co-opt him.
But while most men would have been rattled by these circumstances, this implacable young genius remained sharply focused upon his short term goals and his long range mission. A related quote from Volume 134 of Edison's 3,400 diaries reveals the extraordinary intensity of his commitment in the following terse manner: "Object, ....to effect imitation of all done by gas, so as to replace lighting by gas by lighting by electricity...."
Passionately dedicated to capturing the world market for electricity, it is not surprising that Edison remained doggedly obsessed with making a popular success out of his humongous 2-wire experiment in the Pearl Street section of lower New York City.
The Biography of Thomas Edison
"... Thomas Edison was more responsible than any one else for creating the modern world .... No one did more to shape the physical/cultural makeup of present day civilization.... Accordingly, he was the most influential figure of the millennium...."
The Heroes Of The Age: Electricity And Man
The Heroes Of The Age: Electricity And Man
Surprisingly, little "Al" Edison, who was the last of seven children in his family, did not learn to talk until he was almost four years of age. Immediately thereafter, he began pleading with every adult he met to explain the workings of just about everything he encountered. If they said they didn't know, he would look them straight in the eye with his deeply set and vibrant blue-green eyes and ask them "Why?"
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Contrary to popular belief, Thomas Edison was not born into poverty in a backwater mid-western town. Actually, he was born -on Feb. 11, 1847 - to middle-class parents in the bustling port of Milan, Ohio, a community that - next to Odessa, Russia - was the largest wheat shipping center in the world. In 1854, his family moved to the vibrant city of Port Huron, Michigan, which ultimately surpassed the commercial preeminence of both Milan and Odessa....
At age seven - after spending 12 weeks in a noisy one-room schoolhouse with 38 other students of ll ages - Tom's overworked and short tempered teacher finally lost his patience with the child's persistent questioning and seemingly self centered behavior. Noting that Tom's forehead was unusually broad and his head was considerably larger than average, he made no secret of his belief that the hyperactive youngster's brains were "addled" or scrambled.
Please Scroll Down For Story
Contrary to popular belief, Thomas Edison was not born into poverty in a backwater mid-western town. Actually, he was born -on Feb. 11, 1847 - to middle-class parents in the bustling port of Milan, Ohio, a community that - next to Odessa, Russia - was the largest wheat shipping center in the world. In 1854, his family moved to the vibrant city of Port Huron, Michigan, which ultimately surpassed the commercial preeminence of both Milan and Odessa....
At age seven - after spending 12 weeks in a noisy one-room schoolhouse with 38 other students of ll ages - Tom's overworked and short tempered teacher finally lost his patience with the child's persistent questioning and seemingly self centered behavior. Noting that Tom's forehead was unusually broad and his head was considerably larger than average, he made no secret of his belief that the hyperactive youngster's brains were "addled" or scrambled.If modern psychology had existed back then, Tom would have probably been deemed a victim of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and proscribed a hefty dose of the "miracle drug" Ritalin. Instead, when his beloved mother - whom he recalled "was the making of me... [because] she was always so true and so sure of me... And always made me feel I had someone to live for and must not disappoint." - became aware of the situation, she promptly withdrew him from school and began to "home-teach" him. Not surprisingly, she was convinced her son's slightly unusual demeanor and physical appearance were merely outward signs of his remarkable intelligence.
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