Scott Murr, age 13, of Thomasville, N. C., for his question:
WHO WAS THE WIZARD OF MENLO PARK?
Wherever you are right now you are probably within sight of one of man's greatest inventions the electric, or incandescent, lamp. The next time you see a motion picture or listen to a record, you will be enjoying modern versions of early inventions built by the Wizard of Menlo Park. His name was Thomas Alva Edison but, because of his genius and countless inventions, he was called the Wizard of Menlo Park.
Thomas Edison was born on Feb. 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio. He was the youngest of seven children. His father was a prosperous shingle manufacturer and his mother had once been a schoolteacher. As a young boy, Tom was filled with curiosity and was eternally asking questions. It seemed as though every sentence he uttered began with a how, why or what. His patient mother tried to answer his questions, but even her experience at teaching couldn't help her keep up with him.
Ofttimes Tom himself would set out to find answers. Once, he noted that chickens sat on eggs to hatch them. When he asked how they did this and could get no satisfactory answer, he collected eggs and sat on them himself in an attempt to answer his own question.
At age 7, Tom began his formal education. And Andy would like to tell you here and now that schools are quite a bit different now than they were in 1854 and so are teachers. After about three months of Tom's questions, his teacher became irritated. One thing led to another, and finally Tom's mother decided to educate him at home. While his formal education lasted only three months in public schools, his mother inspired in him a desire for knowledge that was to last a lifetime.
By the time Tom was 12 he was working on the Grand Trunk Railway as a newsboy selling papers, candy, peanuts and sandwiches. Even on the train Tom kept busy with experiments and his own newspaper, the Weekly Herald. At 16 Tom took a job as a railroad telegrapher. Most of his wages from this point on would be spent on various pieces of laboratory and electrical equipment the materials that he would later use to light up the world.
In 1876 Edison moved from Newark to Menlo Park, N.J. Gathering around him a handful of skilled assistants and mechanics, he devoted all his time to inventions. While in Menlo Park he perfected the incandescent light bulb and the phonograph. By the time he left Menlo Park in 1887, he had a list of more than 400 patented inventions.
Thomas A. Edison died in October, 1931. He believed that you had to work hard to succeed in life. Before he began work on a particular project he always took the time to read every available bit of information. It was in this way that he avoided repeating the mistakes of others.