The Value Of Edison's Inventions To The World - 1

The Value Of Edison's Inventions To The World - 1

IF the world were to take an account of stock, so to speak, and proceed in orderly fashion
to marshal its tangible assets in relation to dollars and cents, the natural resources of our
globe, from centre to circumference, would head the list. Next would come inventors,
whose value to the world as an asset could be readily estimated from an increase of its
wealth resulting from the actual transformations of these resources into items of
convenience and comfort through the exercise of their inventive ingenuity.
Inventors of practical devices may be broadly divided into two classes--first, those who
may be said to have made two blades of grass grow where only one grew before; and,
second, great inventors, who have made grass grow plentifully on hitherto unproductive
ground. The vast majority of practical inventors belong to and remain in the first of these
divisions, but there have been, and probably always will be, a less number who, by
reason of their greater achievements, are entitled to be included in both classes. Of these
latter, Thomas Alva Edison is one, but in the pages of history he stands conspicuously
pre-eminent--a commanding towering figure, even among giants.
The activities of Edison have been of such great range, and his conquests in the domains
of practical arts so extensive and varied, that it is somewhat difficult to estimate with any
satisfactory degree of accuracy the money value of his inventions to the world of to-day,
even after making due allowance for the work of other great inventors and the propulsive
effect of large amounts of capital thrown into the enterprises which took root, wholly or
in part, through the productions of his genius and energies. This difficulty will be
apparent, for instance, when we consider his telegraph and telephone inventions. These
were absorbed in enterprises already existing, and were the means of assisting their rapid
growth and expansion, particularly the telephone industry. Again, in considering the fact
that Edison was one of the first in the field to design and perfect a practical and operative
electric railway, the main features of which are used in all electric roads of to-day, we are
confronted with the problem as to what proportion of their colossal investment and
earnings should be ascribed to him.
Difficulties are multiplied when we pause for a moment to think of Edison's influence on
collateral branches of business. In the public mind he is credited with the invention of the
incandescent electric light, the phonograph, and other widely known devices; but how
few realize his actual influence on other trades that are not generally thought of in
connection with these things. For instance, let us note what a prominent engine builder,
the late Gardiner C. Sims, has said: "Watt, Corliss, and Porter brought forward steamengines
to a high state of proficiency, yet it remained for Mr. Edison to force better
proportions, workmanship, designs, use of metals, regulation, the solving of the complex
problems of high speed and endurance, and the successful development of the shaft
governor. Mr. Edison is pre- eminent in the realm of engineering."
The phenomenal growth of the copper industry was due to a rapid and ever-increasing
demand, owing to the exploitation of the telephone, electric light, electric motor, and
electric railway industries. Without these there might never have been the romance of
"Coppers" and the rise and fall of countless fortunes. And although one cannot estimate
in definite figures the extent of Edison's influence in the enormous increase of copper
production, it is to be remembered that his basic inventions constitute a most important
factor in the demand for the metal. Besides, one must also give him the credit, as already
noted, for having recognized the necessity for a pure quality of copper for electric
conductors, and for his persistence in having compelled the manufacturers of that period
to introduce new and additional methods of refinement so as to bring about that result,
which is now a sine qua non.
Still considering his influence on other staples and collateral trades, let us enumerate
briefly and in a general manner some of the more important and additional ones that have
been not merely stimulated, but in many cases the business and sales have been directly
increased and new arts established through the inventions of this one man--namely, iron,
steel, brass, zinc, nickel, platinum ($5 per ounce in 1878, now $26 an ounce), rubber,
oils, wax, bitumen, various chemical compounds, belting, boilers, injectors, structural
steel, iron tubing, glass, silk, cotton, porcelain, fine woods, slate, marble, electrical
measuring instruments, miscellaneous machinery, coal, wire, paper, building materials,
sapphires, and many others.
The question before us is, To what extent has Edison added to the wealth of the world by
his inventions and his energy and perseverance? It will be noted from the foregoing that
no categorical answer can be offered to such a question, but sufficient material can be
gathered from a statistical review of the commercial arts directly influenced to afford an
approximate idea of the increase in national wealth that has been affected by or has come
into being through the practical application of his ideas.
First of all, as to inventions capable of fairly definite estimate, let us mention the
incandescent electric light and systems of distribution of electric light, heat, and power,
which may justly be considered as the crowning inventions of Edison's life. Until October
21, 1879, there was nothing in existence resembling our modern incandescent lamp. On
that date, as we have seen in a previous chapter, Edison's labors culminated in his
invention of a practical incandescent electric lamp embodying absolutely all the
essentials of the lamp of to-day, thus opening to the world the doors of a new art and
industry. To-day there are in the United States more than 41,000,000 of these lamps,
connected to existing central-station circuits in active operation.
Such circuits necessarily imply the existence of central stations with their equipment.
Until the beginning of 1882 there were only a few arc-lighting stations in existence for
the limited distribution of current. At the present time there are over 6000 central stations
in this country for the distribution of electric current for light, heat, and power, with
capital obligations amounting to not less than $1,000,000,000. Besides the above-named
41,000,000 incandescent lamps connected to their mains, there are about 500,000 arc
lamps and 150,000 motors, using 750,000 horse-power, besides countless fan motors and
electric heating and cooking appliances.