When Thomas Alva Edison was a boy, he couldn't just flick a switch to turn on the light if he wanted to finish reading a book after the sun had set. He grew up in a world where there was no dependable, safe, and inexpensive source of artificial light. Then, in 1879, he invented the lightbulb, and houses, shops, factories, schools, streets, ballparks -- every place you could think of, indoors and out -- could at last be easily illuminated after dark. By turning night into day, the lightbulb changed the world.
Turning Point Inventions is the first series of books to focus on the important inventions we often take for granted and how they have affected our lives. In lively text and fascinating pictures, these books explore the world before the invention; the life of the inventor and how he or she came upon the discovery; how the world was changed by the invention; and how it may influence our future. A special full-color foldout in each book shows in detail how the invention works.
