A genius in the practical application of scientific principles(aplicación
práctica de los principios científicos), Edison was one of the
greatest and most productive inventors of his time(época),
but his formal schooling(estudios)
was limited to three months in Port Huron, Mich., in 1854. For several years
he was a newsboy(repartidor
de periódicos) on the Grand Trunk RR, and it was during this
period that he began to suffer from deafness(sordera),
which was to increase throughout(durante
(el resto de)) his life. He later worked as a telegraph
operator(operador de
telégrafo) in various cities.
Edison's first inventions were the transmitter(transmisor)
and receiver(receptor)
for the automatic telegraph, the quadruplex system of transmitting four
simultaneous messages, and an improved(mejorado)
stock-ticker(teletipo
para las transacciones de los titulos) system. In 1877 he
invented the carbon telephone transmitter for the Western Union Telegraph
Company. His phonograph(fonógrafo)
(patented 1878) was notable(destacable,
notable) as the first successful(exitoso)
instrument of its kind.
In 1879, Edison created the first commercially practical incandescent
lamp(bombilla
incadescente) (with a carbon filament). For use with it he
developed(desarrolló)
a complete electrical distribution system for light and power, including
generators, motors, light sockets(conectores,
enchufes) with the Edison base, junction boxes(cajas
de conextiones), safety fuses(fusibles
de seguridad), underground conductors(conductores
de tierras), and other devices(aparatos,
mecanismos). The crowning achievement of his work(el
logro culminante de su trabajo) in this field(campo)
was the Pearl St. plant (1881–82) in New York City, the first permanent
central electric-light power plant(planta
de energía de luz eléctrica) in the world. He also built and
operated (1880) an experimental electric railroad(vía
férrea eléctrica), and produced a superior storage battery
of iron and nickel(batería
de almacenamiento superior de hierro) with an alkaline
electrolyte(electrolito
alcalino).
Other significant inventions include the Kinetoscope, or peep-show machine(máquina
que muestra un espectáculo de bailarinas semidesnudas). Edison
later demonstrated experimentally the synchronization of motion pictures(película
de cine) and sound, and talking pictures were based on this
work. During World War I he helped to develop(desarrollar)
the manufacture(manufactura,
elaboración) in the United States of chemicals(sustancias
químicas) previously imported; he also served as head(cabeza,
dirigente) of the U.S. navy consulting board(junta,
comisión asesora) concerned with(relacionada
con) ship defenses against torpedoes and mines. Edison later
worked on the production of rubber(goma,
caucho) from American plants, notably(especialmente)
goldenrod(vara de San
José).
Edison held(obtuvo,
mantuvo) over 1,300 U.S. and foreign patents, and his workshops(talleres)
at Menlo Park (1876) and West Orange, N.J. (1887), were significant as
forerunners(precursores)
of the modern industrial research laboratory(moderna
investigación industrial de laboratorio) in which teams of
workers, rather than a lone inventor(un
sólo inventor), systematically investigate a given subject(asunto
dado, determinado).
An Edison memorial tower(torre
conmemorativa) and light was erected (1938) in Menlo Park,
N.J.; Edison's laboratory and other buildings associated with his career are
preserved or replicated in Greenfield Village. Some of his various companies
were consolidated to form the General Electric Company (GE). |