Edison's Method In Inventing - 11

Edison's Method In Inventing - 11

 A good stiff difficulty--one which may, perhaps, appear to be an unsurmountable

obstacle--only serves to make Edison cheerful, and brings out variations of his methods

in experimenting. Such an occurrence will start him thinking, which soon gives rise to a

line of suggestions for approaching the trouble from various sides; or he will sit down

and write out a series of eliminations, additions, or changes to be worked out and

reported upon, with such variations as may suggest themselves during their progress. It is

at such times as these that his unfailing patience and tremendous resourcefulness are in

evidence. Ideas and expedients are poured forth in a torrent, and although some of them

have temporarily appeared to the staff to be ridiculous or irrelevant, they have frequently

turned out to be the ones leading to a correct solution of the trouble.

Edison's inexhaustible resourcefulness and fertility of ideas have contributed largely to

his great success, and have ever been a cause of amazement to those around him.

Frequently, when it would seem to others that the extreme end of an apparently blind

alley had been reached, and that it was impossible to proceed further, he has shown that

there were several ways out of it. Examples without number could be quoted, but one

must suffice by way of illustration. During the progress of the ore-milling work at

Edison, it became desirable to carry on a certain operation by some special machinery.

He requested the proper person on his engineering staff to think this matter up and submit

a few sketches of what he would propose to do. He brought three drawings to Edison,

who examined them and said none of them would answer. The engineer remarked that it

was too bad, for there was no other way to do it. Mr. Edison turned to him quickly, and

said: "Do you mean to say that these drawings represent the only way to do this work?"

To which he received the reply: "I certainly do." Edison said nothing. This happened on a

Saturday. He followed his usual custom of spending Sunday at home in Orange. When he

returned to the works on Monday morning, he took with him sketches he had made,

showing FORTY-EIGHT other ways of accomplishing the desired operation, and laid

them on the engineer's desk without a word. Subsequently one of these ideas, with

modifications suggested by some of the others, was put into successful practice.

Difficulties seem to have a peculiar charm for Edison, whether they relate to large or

small things; and although the larger matters have contributed most to the history of the

arts, the same carefulness of thought has often been the means of leading to

improvements of permanent advantage even in minor details. For instance, in the very

earliest days of electric lighting, the safe insulation of two bare wires fastened together

was a serious problem that was solved by him. An iron pot over a fire, some insulating

material melted therein, and narrow strips of linen drawn through it by means of a

wooden clamp, furnished a readily applied and adhesive insulation, which was just as

perfect for the purpose as the regular and now well-known insulating tape, of which it

was the forerunner.

Dubious results are not tolerated for a moment in Edison's experimental work. Rather

than pass upon an uncertainty, the experiment will be dissected and checked minutely in

order to obtain absolute knowledge, pro and con. This searching method is followed not

only in chemical or other investigations, into which complexities might naturally enter,

but also in more mechanical questions, where simplicity of construction might naturally

seem to preclude possibilities of uncertainty. For instance, at the time when he was

making strenuous endeavors to obtain copper wire of high conductivity, strict laboratory

tests were made of samples sent by manufacturers. One of these samples tested out

poorer than a previous lot furnished from the same factory. A report of this to Edison

brought the following note: "Perhaps the ---- wire had a bad spot in it. Please cut it up

into lengths and test each one and send results to me immediately." Possibly the electrical

fraternity does not realize that this earnest work of Edison, twenty-eight years ago,

resulted in the establishment of the high quality of copper wire that has been the

recognized standard since that time. Says Edison on this point: "I furnished the expert and

apparatus to the Ansonia Brass and Copper Company in 1883, and he is there yet. It was

this expert and this company who pioneered high-conductivity copper for the electrical

trade."