Randall E. Stross

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

Pennsylvania

How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World

Thomas Edison's greatest invention? His own fame.

At the height of his fame Thomas Alva Edison was hailed as "the Napoleon of invention" and blazed in the public imagination as a virtual demigod. Starting with the first public demonstrations of the phonograph in 1878 and extending through the development of incandescent light and the first motion picture cameras, Edison's name became emblematic of all the wonder and promise of the emerging age of technological marvels.

But as Randall Stross makes clear in this critical biography of the man who is arguably the most globally famous of all Americans, Thomas Edison's greatest invention may have been his own celebrity. Edison was certainly a technical genius, but Stross excavates the man from layers of myth-making and separates his true achievements from his almost equally colossal failures. How much credit should Edison receive for the various inventions that have popularly been attributed to him--and how many of them resulted from both the inspiration and the perspiration of his rivals and even his own assistants?

This bold reassessment of Edison's life and career answers this and many other important questions while telling the story of how he came upon his most famous inventions as a young man and spent the remainder of his long life trying to conjure similar success. We also meet his partners and competitors, presidents and entertainers, his close friend Henry Ford, the wives who competed with his work for his attention, and the children who tried to thrive in his shadow--all providing a fuller view of Edison's life and times than has ever been offered before. The Wizard of Menlo Park reveals not only how Edison worked, but how he managed his own fame, becoming the first great celebrity of the modern age.

The Wizard of Menlo Park

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An in-depth portrait of America's greatest inventor journeys inside the life and laboratory of Thomas Edison, documenting not only his revolutionary technological innovations, but also his ability to promote and market himself and his creations.

Category - Non Fiction / Biography & Autobiography

Format - Paperback

Condition - Good

Listed - 7 months ago

Views - 3

Ships From - Pennsylvania

Est. Publication Date - Mar 2008

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Category - Non Fiction / Biography & Autobiography

Format - Paperback

Condition - Good

Listed - 7 months ago

Views - 3

Ships From - Pennsylvania

Est. Publication Date - Mar 2008

Additional Information

Publisher Description

Tags

The Wizard of Menlo Park

By:

$3.00

Condition

Format

Meet the seller

Discover more

The Wizard of Menlo Park

By: Randall E. Stross

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