Customer Reviews

The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The greatest American inventor, most would agree, was Thomas Alva Edison, but it may be that his greatest invention was himself, as image in the newspapers and as "Thomas A. Edison", a phrase that was an important addition to any marketable gadget. In _The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Edison Invented the Modern World_ (Crown), Randall Stross has looked at the mechanical and electric inventions, few of which Edison single-handedly originated or developed, but has concentrated mostly on his fame. "Once brought into being," Stross writes, "Edison's image inhabited its own life and acted autonomously in ways that its namesake could not control." Stross, a historian who is a professor of business, makes the case that Edison discovered the importance of the application of celebrity to business. We had celebrities before, of course, presidents and generals, and contemporary with Edison were famous figures like Mark Twain and P. T. Barnum. Edison's celebrity exceeded them all, and oddly, he was famous because he was an inventor. When celebrity came to him, he was not an inventor who had made a practical gadget like a cotton gin, a telegraph, or an elevator; he had invented (and had come far short of perfecting) the phonograph. It was the celebrity from this particular machine that carried him through many ups and downs in his long life.

This is not a complete biography, but a welcome look at particular qualities of Edison's celebrity and its effects on his life and business practices. Edison jumped from the most modern technology of the time, telegraphy, and was working on improved telephones, not on voice recording in 1877. The world was dazzled by the prospect of a machine that could talk, but the phonograph sat in its unperfected form for another ten years as he went about other projects, and this was despite a clamor for the machine and an elevation of Edison in the public mind to "mythic inventor hero". Edison was happiest when he was tinkering wherever his whimsy carried him; he was good at coming up with new ideas, bad at working on perfecting them, and terrible at making them pay. He understood the importance of his fame, and used it, although he could not control all the ways others put it to use or all the ways that it took time out of his other activities. He made himself available to the press, and reporters loved interviewing the plain-talking inventor who would chew tobacco throughout such visits. He loved the role of wise advisor, and the press liked him to pontificate on all sorts of matters that had nothing to do with his areas of expertise, like diet.

Edison was no charlatan. Even though he took credit when it actually belonged to those who worked for him, and even though the public insisted on crediting him for inventions others had perfected, he did have a real role in innovating gadgets. As time went on (he lived until 1931) and his public persona as a wizard continued, people tended to forget his many failures; all of his most famous inventions were early in his career, and all amounted to little while he was the one in control of their manufacture and marketing. It would be unfair to judge him just on his earnings, but one of his sons was probably right when he bitterly complained, "You should have been... a millionaire 10 times over if you knew how to handle your own achievements." Such a skill was not within his wizardry, however. Stross shows that Edison could not focus on a new project and bring it to commercial fruition without getting distracted by other endeavors, and that often the distracting endeavor was that of making himself a celebrity. He was wildly successful in this, but it proved to be a strain that he could not enjoy or control. Stross sums up: "Edison failed to invent a way to free himself from unrealistic expectations produced by his own past."

The author brings Thomas Edison to life in these pages exposing all of his brilliance, ineptness, and stubborness. No one can doubt the genius that is Edison, while at the same time appreciating all of the business opportunities lost due to his quirks of personality and failure to recognize them when they are right before his eyes.

It is a fascinating look at someone who I have admired for years from reading about his accomplishments, but now I feel I know him as a person. I had a hard time putting the book down. A must read for anyone and especially people who are innovative and entrepreneurial.

Thomas Alva Edison was probably the greatest inventor of all time. However, he was also one of the worst businessman to ever run a business. Yes, he invented the phonograph, but then was beaten in the market by the Victor company because he micromanaged the decisions for the selection of the artists to record. In fact, initially, he wanted to use his invention as a dictation device. Many consider him to be the inventor of electricity and the light bulb, and yet, many inventors were working on this at the same time. And, ultimately, Westinghouse beat his company in the market because he pursued the more costly direct current while they pursued the more cost efficient alternating current. Alternating current is what is used today. His life was that of a creative genius who pursued what he was interested in and not what was important to the market, thereby missing many opportunities. However, pursuing what he was interested in resulted in great advances in many fields that were important in the development of the modern world. I think the most important statement of his importance to our world was provided when the US government requested that all people turn off their lights at the time of his funeral in 1931. He was very important to the modern world, but the myths that arose since his death, that resulted in him being close to a deity, were not correct. This book provides the man behind the myth, doing in a very credible and readable fashion. Consequently, I highly recommend this book.

Length:: 1:52 Mins


In early childhood we heard much about Edison the inventor, yet very little about Edison the man. This book fills that gap. We learn about Edison's prejudices, his workaholic habits that took incessant priority over his family, his resilience, his close friendships with prominent men like Henry Ford, and his adjustment to his lifelong hearing impairment.

My only drawback: the author's style lacks popular appeal, bordering on dissertation style. Still, I recommend the book because we get to know the man who made so many of our modern conveniences possible.



The Complete Communicator: Change Your Communication-change Your Life!

The Wizard of Menlo Park is an reexamination of the life and career of one of the most famous American inventors, Thomas Alva Edison.


It is a myth that Thomas Edison is the sole inventor of the lightbulb. In any event, it was not even his most famous invention. That honor goes to the phonograph that singlehandedly set the stage for the development of the modern music insustry.

Thomas Edison lacked the kind of business acumen that was needed for him to capitalize on his being the pioneer of sound recording. Edison failed to capitalize on his fame. He allowed himself to be distracted from his work to the point that he allowed his lab to become a popular tourist destination.

Although Edison was a remarkable man who was rightfully credited with many useful inventions, the hype surrounding him has actually obscured his real creativity.

This is an excellent book.

As a lover of technology, reason, and heroes, I have read several biographies of Edison. This one, by far, is the worst I have read. I must emphatically do not recommend this book. The reason - Mr. Stross seems determined throughout the book to tear down Edison, to find every fault (real or imagined) and detail how Edison was not amazing. Instead of reading about how Edison was able to achieve over 1000 patents in his lifetime, you read about how Edison was not a good businessman, not a good husband, not a good father, not a good friend, not a good philanthropist, and not a good employer. You will read about dozens of examples where Edison over promised results, became insufferably conceited, sought after publicity, claimed credit for inventions he didn't create, and made hundreds (if not thousands) of bad decisions. Stross meticulously documents every negative newspaper article printed throughout Edison's lifetime. In every case where there are two possible explanations for Edison's behavior, Stross writes about the most negative one. One has to wonder why Stross would want to write this biography.

What was noticeably absent was detailed discussions of Edison's genius, of his innovative capacity, of his independence in thought, of his confidence in his own abilities, of his prodigous work ethic, or of his experience creating the world's first industrial laboratory. It wasn't until the last chapter of the book that Stross even discusses the enormous values created from Edison's inventions, spawning several multi-billion dollar industries by the time of Edison's death in the 1930s. It is too little too late. But even then, Stross is quick to point out that Edison's net worth was only estimated at $12 million when he died, just in case you were not convinced of Edison's poor business skills.

All-in-all, this destroyer of the greatest in Edison should be forgotten. I regret I spent money on it.

I feel this book has great stories about Edison interjected with supporting documentation over a linear defined timeline. Despite all that, I don't find this book engaging. It's hard to get into a flow with this book as the author is more matter-of-fact in a style more suitable to a term paper than a non-fiction book.

This book provides an amazing look at the Wizard of Menlo park. My favorite portions of the book did not revolve around his inventions, his genius, his marketing of himself, the way he breached the barrier to become one of the first 'superstars' of the media. My favorite things were the little unknown ideas which have taken on life in my time. As I am reading the book I am thinking, hey, Edison invented the idea of Netflix, Sesame Street, and more. But the basic premise behind these ideas didn't come to fruition in his lifetime. That's the beauty of his genius. He saw a future that no one else did -- despite his stubbornness and frequent bad business decisions.

This enjoyable biography focuses on:
1.) Thomas Edison's various achievements as an inventor.
2.) How Edison's inventions led to an ostensible raise in the standard of living in the United States and eventually Europe.
3.) How Edison became and lived as a celebrity because of his achievements.

If you like reading about heroic producers of the industrial revolution, then I highly recommend adding this book to your reading list.

Even the anecdotes about Thomas Edison's (initial) failures are fun to read. For example, I particularly liked the story of how J.P. Morgan volunteered to have his study be one of the first rooms to be wired with electricity. Eager to bask in his latest highly anticipated investment, Morgan turned on the incandescent light next to his desk to do a little evening reading. Unfortunately for him, as he began to read, his study caught fire, eventually leading to his house suffering substantial damage.

Did J.P. Morgan divest himself of Thomas Edison? Absolutely not! He merely invited Thomas Edison over to witness the charred remains of his study and firmly inquired if he could install the wiring correctly the second time. Such was the earned reputation of Thomas Edison. J.P. Morgan knew he was investing in something big. Also, this story also revealed a great deal about his character. Instead of dwelling on his serious mistake, Thomas Edison focused on how he could rectify the situation and improve his invention. But I digress.

A great read!

I totally enjoyed this book. The author keeps you turning pages as he provides interesting fact after fact about Thomas Edison and his life as the world's most famous inventor. Inside you will learn what made Edison tick and how he impacted the world around him including his family, employees and close friends. As a phonograph buff I particularly enjoyed reading about Edison's beliefs regarding musicians, music and the promotion and sale of phonographs and cylinders (records). The Wizard of Menlo Park is well researched and well written. The author obviously has experience taking readers on enlightening journeys. This book will find a permanent place on my home bookshelf.