Edison's Method In Inventing - 2

Edison's Method In Inventing - 2

 It is not surprising, therefore, that a man of this kind should exhibit a ceaseless, absorbing

desire for knowledge, and an apparently uncontrollable tendency to experiment on every

possible occasion, even though his last cent were spent in thus satisfying the insatiate

cravings of an inquiring mind.

During Edison's immature years, when he was flitting about from place to place as a

telegraph operator, his experimentation was of a desultory, hand-to-mouth character,

although it was always notable for originality, as expressed in a number of minor useful

devices produced during this period. Small wonder, then, that at the end of these

wanderings, when he had found a place to "rest the sole of his foot," he established a

laboratory in which to carry on his researches in a more methodical and practical manner.

In this was the beginning of the work which has since made such a profound impression

on contemporary life.

There is nothing of the helter-skelter, slap-dash style in Edison's experiments. Although

all the laboratory experimenters agree in the opinion that he "tries everything," it is not

merely the mixing of a little of this, some of that, and a few drops of the other, in the

HOPE that SOMETHING will come of it. Nor is the spirit of the laboratory work

represented in the following dialogue overheard between two alleged carpenters picked

up at random to help on a hurry job.

"How near does she fit, Mike?"

"About an inch."

"Nail her!"

A most casual examination of any of the laboratory records will reveal evidence of the

minutest exactitude insisted on in the conduct of experiments, irrespective of the length

of time they occupied. Edison's instructions, always clear cut and direct, followed by his

keen oversight, admit of nothing less than implicit observance in all details, no matter

where they may lead, and impel to the utmost minuteness and accuracy.

To some extent there has been a popular notion that many of Edison's successes have

been due to mere dumb fool luck--to blind, fortuitous "happenings." Nothing could be

further from the truth, for, on the contrary, it is owing almost entirely to the

comprehensive scope of his knowledge, the breadth of his conception, the daring

originality of his methods, and minuteness and extent of experiment, com- bined with

unwavering pertinacity, that new arts have been created and additions made to others

already in existence. Indeed, without this tireless minutiae, and methodical, searching

spirit, it would have been practically impossible to have produced many of the most

important of these inventions.

Needless to say, mastery of its literature is regarded by him as a most important

preliminary in taking up any line of investigation. What others may have done, bearing

directly or collaterally on the subject, in print, is carefully considered and sifted to the

point of exhaustion. Not that he takes it for granted that the conclusions are correct, for he

frequently obtains vastly different results by repeating in his own way experiments made

by others as detailed in books.

"Edison can travel along a well-used road and still find virgin soil," remarked recently

one of his most practical experimenters, who had been working along a certain line

without attaining the desired result. "He wanted to get a particular compound having

definite qualities, and I had tried in all sorts of ways to produce it but with only partial

success. He was confident that it could be done, and said he would try it himself. In doing

so he followed the same path in which I had travelled, but, by making an undreamed-of

change in one of the operations, succeeded in producing a compound that virtually came

up to his specifications. It is not the only time I have known this sort of thing to happen."

In speaking of Edison's method of experimenting, another of his laboratory staff says:

"He is never hindered by theory, but resorts to actual experiment for proof. For instance,

when he conceived the idea of pouring a complete concrete house it was universally held

that it would be impossible because the pieces of stone in the mixture would not rise to

the level of the pouring-point, but would gravitate to a lower plane in the soft cement.

This, however, did not hinder him from making a series of experiments which resulted in

an invention that proved conclusively the contrary."