| 
 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).
 |