Thomas Edison: A Life From Beginning to End (Biographies of Business Leaders) Paperback – March 8, 2017

Like all the Hourly History Series books, this is a quick read, 50 pages. Calling this series of books the Hourly History Series is fitting because the average reader can read each volume in about an hours’ time. What I love most about these books is that they tell the reader everything he or she needs to know about the subject in a Reader’s Digest Condensed Book’s style. No fluff! Just the facts! Ask almost anyone, even an elementary school’s student, who Thomas Edison was and they’ll tell you he was the man who invented the light bulb. Of course they would all be wrong. There had been many light bulbs invented before Edison’s, by many inventors. Edison is called its inventor when all he did was improve on earlier designs and made it practical as a light source. Thomas Alva Edison has become the world’s most renown inventor. In his lifetime, he laid claim to 2, 332 patents, a feat that no one has ever even come close to repeating. He led the way with many inventions like the record player, the motion picture camera and projector, the fluoroscope, the stock ticker, and the improved telephone transmitter, to name just a few. He was was the world’s most prolific inventor. Thomas Edison, “The Wizard of Menlo Park,” was more than just a prolific inventor, he was a visionary, an innovative businessman. First off, he applied the principles of mass production to his laboratories. He assigned different aspects of the research involved to each of his assistant, thus speeding up the entire process, producing one innovative invention after another. Unlike many brilliant inventors of the times, he was also a brilliant businessman who marketed those inventions. Although never rich himself, he knew and was friends with many of the rich and famous of his day. Do you want to know more about what made the Wizard of Menlo Park tick? Read this exceptional little book.

A quick ( roughly 1 hour) read that provides and overview of Edison's life, career, and inventions, taking the time to note early experiences, and jobs that influenced later inventions.Contains quite a few familiar facts, along with some historical contexy, and in a few places juxtaposing Edison's personal and professional life, and includes some interesting tidbits:"When George Eastman came up with celluloid film, Edison used it to improve on his motion picture camera. The films were cut into strips with perforated edges; creating the iconic shape that most of us picture when we think about a film roll."

I very much enjoyed the different stages of the book. All stages were concise and told the events as they unfolded. I especially enjoyed the last stage which accurately portrayed Edison’s personality. It was exactly the type of information I wanted.

An easy, quick read by one of the most interesting inventors and businessmen of the 19th Century. Edison was not exceptional at either individually, but managed to market and position himself so that 90 years after his death, almost every American knows his name and his “invention” of the light bulb. You’ll get a good dose of perspective in this short, enjoyable biography.

This is a fair rendition of a fascinating man's life - but it's in need of a good editor.The telling is awkward, repetitive and does not really flow - making for a difficult read.STILL: an amazing - albeit irascible,flawed and stubborn - man.

I enjoyed the informative read.

This hour or less read on Thomas Edison is one of the better offerings from Hourly History. As promised, you will receive a history of Edison and be able to complete the book within an hour. This is a pretty good overview, with all of Edison's major inventions mentioned. The book also touches on his family life, and it was fairly interesting at the end when the book discusses Edison's approach to inventing and how he put inventing ad business together, creating multiple companies in the process. This is a decent introduction to Edison for those who do not know much about the man and his accomplishments. Four stars.

Growing up in the era that I did, Thomas Edison was very much a common subject, even though he had passed on some years earlier. Part of my name is named after this great man, and I am proud that my father chose him. Thomas Edison the book, short as it is, is a very nice overview of this man who would be such an integral part of bringing the world into modern times, modern ideas and the ability to move society forward. I love history as many people do, and am constantly amazed at where we came from and where we are headed to. This book highlights one of the things I most admired of Thomas Edison; the fact that money was secondary to each endeavor and how he was intimately involved in each one, and that he was there from beginning to end whether it succeeded or failed. Visionary is an understatement as he could visualize the task before him in such clear detail. Now having read this book I am going to find a way to visit the site where so much was done.