Who Was Thomas Alva Edison 爱迪生 Chapter 7 Always Inventing

Tom was a man who never ran out of ideas. Although Tom was hard of hearing, he never lost his hearing completely. He didn’t let it become a problem, even when his hearing got worse as he got older. In fact, he said it was a good thing because he could ignore noise swirling¹ around him. He could concentrate on what was important to him. At one point Tom was told that an operation might cure his deafness. He didn’t want it. And he was not interested in developing a hearing aid.

Tom found ways to work around his problem. He managed to “listen” to piano players trying out for his phonograph recordings² by biting a metal plate attached to the piano. This allowed him to “hear” the music through the vibrations³ traveling through his jawbone. Was he “listening” through his teeth?

So much is known about Tom’s work because of the records he kept. Over his seventy years of inventing, he filled four thousand notebooks and wrote and drew over three million notes, letters, and sketches⁴.

Not all of Tom’s ideas were successes. In 1891 he bought a mine in northwestern New Jersey⁵. He wanted to find a way to produce low-grade iron ore by separating it from rock and sand. But after ten years he had to give up when rich deposits of high-grade iron ore were found in Minnesota. By this time Tom had lost millions of dollars.

Still, Tom’s experience with mining led him to another business—cement. He came up with a way to pour a cement house in just six hours using molds and machinery⁶ that he developed in his mining business. His cement was used to build New York’s Yankee Stadium and the Panama Canal.

Now it was the turn of the century. Automobiles⁷ were about to burst on the scene. Tom was convinced that an electric car would be the best car for the future. He set out to make a battery to run a car on electricity. He knew it would be cleaner than the gas that other inventors were trying. But he had to make a battery that would store enough electricity to run a car for a very long time. It also had to be cheap enough to make.



Tom finally came up with a good storage battery. But he was too late for cars. By 1903, Henry Ford⁸ was selling his gasoline-powered Model A to customers.

Tom’s storage battery became very useful, even though it didn’t power cars like Ford’s. The navy used it to light ships and to power torpedoes⁹. The railroad lit cars and signal lights with it. Some delivery trucks were powered by it. So were the lights on coal miners’ helmets. Amazingly, the storage battery became his biggest moneymaker. Perhaps that surprised even Tom, who had once expected his phonograph “to grow up to be a big fellow and support me in my old age.”

With all of Tom’s successes, he was always ready to move on to the next idea. The same was true of his failures. He didn’t look back and complain, and he never gave up until he had tried every possibility. Tom once said, “You come across anything you don’t understand, you don’t rest until you run it down. Most fellers try a few things and then quit. I never quit until I find what I’m after.”

Tom worked in a time when many others were racing¹¹ to think up and invent the next great idea. The world seemed alive with possibilities!

Tom understood work. He liked it. He once said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration¹².” Of genius he said, “Sticking to it is the genius!” In 1914 a fire raged through some of his West Orange buildings. But even that did not discourage Tom. He started rebuilding immediately.

But even Tom could be narrow-minded. He had nothing good to say about the radio. He was sure it wouldn’t last.

As Tom got older, he didn’t stop working. There are photographs of Tom in his seventies still going to West Orange. When he was sixty-five, he had a time clock installed. His workers punched in their cards to record the time they arrived and the time they left. So did Tom.

Over the years, Tom received many awards. In 1928 the U.S. Congress gave him a special medal for his lifetime of achievement. “I have accomplished¹³ all I promised,” he said.

During the last fifteen years of Tom’s life, he went on trips with old friends, among them Henry Ford, tire maker¹⁰ Harvey Firestone, and naturalist¹⁴ John Burroughs. They traveled to the Great Smoky Mountains, around New England, and to Michigan. They called their vacations together “camping trips.” But they were well taken care of by the helpers who pitched their tents, took care of their clothes, and cooked their meals.

Tom and Mina spent time at the vacation home Tom had built soon after their marriage. It was in Ft. Myers, Florida. Of course, it had a laboratory.

During the last two years of his life, Tom suffered from a number of ailments¹⁵, among them diabetes¹⁶ and a stomach ulcer¹⁷, and his health declined. In August 1931, he collapsed¹⁸ at Glenmont. He died on October 18 at the age of eighty-four. Mina lived another sixteen years.

Tom’s funeral, on Wednesday, October 21, was private. But that evening, at the request of President Herbert Hoover, Americans turned off their lights at ten in the evening. For one minute, all over the United States, there was darkness in honor of Thomas Alva Edison, the man who lit up the world.
 

HENRY FORD

HENRY FORD WAS THE FIRST TO MAKE A CAR CHEAP ENOUGH FOR MOST AMERICANS TO BUY. IN 1908, HIS MOST POPULAR CAR, THE MODEL T, COST FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS, AND HE HAD MORE ORDERS THAN HE COULD FILL. WITHIN TWO YEARS FORD CAME UP WITH HIS “ASSEMBLY LINE.” WORKERS ASSEMBLED, OR PUT TOGETHER, EACH CAR. EACH MAN WORKED ON ONE PART ONLY. AS THE CAR TRAVELED ALONG A MOVING BELT, WORKERS ON EITHER SIDE ADDED THE NEXT PARTS NEEDED. AT THE END OF THE LINE A COMPLETE MODEL T WAS DRIVEN OFF, READY FOR A CUSTOMER. FORD MADE MODEL T’S FOR NINETEEN YEARS. HE SOLD OVER 15.5 MILLION OF THEM IN AMERICA.

1 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

2 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

3 vibrations   

n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动

参考例句：

• We could feel the vibrations from the trucks passing outside. 我们可以感到外面卡车经过时的颤动。
• I am drawn to that girl; I get good vibrations from her. 我被那女孩吸引住了，她使我产生良好的感觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 sketches   

n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概

参考例句：

• The artist is making sketches for his next painting. 画家正为他的下一幅作品画素描。
• You have to admit that these sketches are true to life. 你得承认这些素描很逼真。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

6 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

7 automobiles   

n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后，就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上，汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

9 torpedoes   

鱼雷( torpedo的名词复数 )； 油井爆破筒； 刺客； 掼炮

参考例句：

• We top off, take on provisions and torpedoes, and go. 我们维修完，装上给养和鱼雷就出发。
• The torpedoes hit amidship, and there followed a series of crashing explosions. 鱼雷击中了船腹，引起了一阵隆隆的爆炸声。

10 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

11 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

12 perspiration   

n.汗水；出汗

参考例句：

• It is so hot that my clothes are wet with perspiration.天太热了，我的衣服被汗水湿透了。
• The perspiration was running down my back.汗从我背上淌下来。

13 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

14 naturalist   

n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者)

参考例句：

• He was a printer by trade and naturalist by avocation.他从事印刷业，同时是个博物学爱好者。
• The naturalist told us many stories about birds.博物学家给我们讲述了许多有关鸟儿的故事。

15 ailments   

疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His ailments include a mild heart attack and arthritis. 他患有轻度心脏病和关节炎。
• He hospitalizes patients for minor ailments. 他把只有小病的患者也送进医院。

16 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

17 ulcer   

n.溃疡，腐坏物

参考例句：

• She had an ulcer in her mouth.她口腔出现溃疡。
• A bacterium is identified as the cause for his duodenal ulcer.一种细菌被断定为造成他十二指肠溃疡的根源。

18 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。