8.12.9

Name the significant inventors and their inventions and identify how they improved the quality of life (e.g., Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Orville and Wilbur Wright).
            Inventors, one who invents or finds out something new; a contriver, are the people that make up our world. Thomas Alva Edison was one of these inventors, a famous, wonderful, and well-known one too. Edison had made many great contributions to our everyday life like practical electric lighting, the phonograph, and improvements to the telegraph, telephone, and motion pictures. One of the first research laboratories that have ever made was created by Edison which is recognized by various scientists to be his utmost accomplishment ever. During Edison’s lifetime, he has received over precisely 1,093 patents by himself which is the most ever issued to a single person. Edison had loved to work with partners to see how they solved problems, and afterwards Edison sold his inventions in businesses to get revenue that would help him research and develop more products which had helped the United States become an industrial world power in the late 1800’s. Three of Edison’s inventions has helped lives of people today significantly, the electric light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion-picture camera. The period in which Edison had perfected and produced most of his inventions, 1879 to 1900, was called the Age of Edison. Edison had invented the phonograph which lets us listen to music, and without it we wouldn’t have the capability to listen to music at any given time or have cd players. The invention of the light bulb had proved the existence of electrons which later on persuaded scientists to study electronics.
            Orville Wright, who lived from 1867 to 1912, and Wilbur Wright, who had a lifespan from 1871 to 1948, had invented the first engine-powered airplane or “flying machine” as they named it in their patent. Their first successful and first flight in the world was on December 17, 1903 with an altitude of 10 feet, traveling 120 feet in 12 seconds near Kitty Hawk, N.C. The brother’s objective was to stay in the air longer after every flight; hence at the end of the first day, their record was 852 feet in 59 seconds after 3 flights. As Wilbur Wright had written, “flight is possible to man, and I feel that it will soon cost me and increased amount of money if not my life.” These brothers are the most renowned inventors of America. Without these brothers innovation, we wouldn’t be able to travel over seas, trade more rapidly, and go into outer space, or in other words, one less type of transportation.
            Alexander Graham Bell was another famous inventor of America who is generally known for his invention of the telephone. He was born on March 3, 1847 and past away in 1922 with many patents for the telegraph, photophone, phonograph, aerial devices, hydroairplanes, and a selenium cell. This invention of his was patented in 1876the age of 29 and gave him oodles of money. Bell had established the Volta Laboratory to research, invent, and work for the deaf. Bell is most remembered for his medical research in teaching speech to the deaf because if he had never studied this, deaf people today might not have a system of communication to communicate with one another. Throughout Bell’s life, his greatest accomplishment yet would be his study and help for the deaf. Furthermore, Bell had once said about his approach to life," Leave the beaten track occasionally and dive into the woods. Every time you do so you will be certain to find something that you have never seen before. Follow it up, explore all around it, and before you know it, you will have something worth thinking about to occupy your mind. All really big discoveries are the results of thought."


More Information:

   1.    http://www.thomas-edison.info/thomas-edison/
          This is a site that tells fairly detailed biography of Thomas Edison’s life.

   2.    http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/bell.htm
          This site gives many facts about Alexander Bell and other resources for more information.

   3.    http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/edison.htm
          This site gives information about Thomas Edison and other resources to find more facts about him.

   4.    http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/11.html
          This site gives a bio of Alexander Bell and his impact on us.

   5.    http://www.hfmgv.org/exhibits/wright/
          This site tells about the Wright brother’s childhood and how they started out.

   6.    http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blairplane.htm
          This site tells the history of the airplane and other places to find more information on airplanes.

   7.    http://shop.store.yahoo.com/museum-store/bookonthomed.html
          This site gives you various titles of books about Thomas Edison.

   8.    http://www.dropbears.com/b/broughsbooks/aviation/wright_brothers.htm
          This site tells you the titles of books on the Wright Brothers.


Recommended Books:

   1.    Alexander Graham Bell
          by Leonard Everett Fisher

   2.    Alexander Graham Bell: A Photo-Illustrated Biography
          by Greg Linder

   3.    Edison - A Life of Invention
          by Paul Israel

   4.    Edison and the Business of Innovation
          By Andre Millard

   5.    How We Invented the Airplane: An Illustrated History
          by Orville Wright, Fred C. Kelly (Photographer)

   6.    Miracle at Kitty Hawk: The Letters of Wilbur and Orville Wright
          by Fred C. Kelly (Editor)