He was a systems thinker and a project manager. Edison took the image of an inventor as one man tinkering alone in a shop and turned it into an industry. He did not just have a laboratory at Menlo Park, NJ, he created an invention factory.
They say Edison's invention factory at Menlo Park was like a giant frat house. I'm sure a bunch of men experimenting in a lab together could be fun at times, but given his drive to succeed, I wouldn't want to get on his bad side. Like many driven geeks, he lived at his office where he had his cot to take his power naps between shifts.
As much as we can learn from Edison on his creation of an invention factory, there's also a dark side to Edison that showed a compulsive workaholic obsessed with success at all costs. There are several versions of the story surrounding the death of his first wife, Mary Edison. Many books say that Mary died of typhoid, her death certificate states that she died of “congestion of the brain.” One popular story tells that Mary Edison died of a morphine overdose as a result of complications from her third pregnancy. Complications from pregnancy, as well as use of morphine as a pain killer, were not uncommon in the 1880s. Even though Edison's lab was only a few miles from his home, it is told that it took him three weeks to visit his home when he received word that his wife was ill. Mary Edison died at the age of 29.
The very dark side of Edison and his drive to succeed at all costs was illustrated in the “War of Currents.” Edison was promoting DC (direct current), as the primary method to carry electricity to homes. George Westinghouse was promoting AC (alternating current), as the primary method to carry electricity to homes. An electrical engineer named Harold Brown became the front man for a campaign by Edison to smear and discredit Westinghouse. Stories are told of how Brown paid local children to collect stray dogs off the street that he used for experiments showing the dangers of alternating current. Despite publicly denouncing capital punishment, Edison secretly financed the alternating current electric chair developed by Brown. Edison launched a media campaign telling the world AC was deadly, using the word “Westinghoused” to describe an execution by electrocution.
Edison was alive during a time of many great inventions. His battles with Tesla and Westinghouse in the War of Currents was one of many areas where he was very competitive with the other geeks of his day. There are many other stories I could tell, but the stories about his relationship with his first wife, and the many associated stories surrounding the War of Currents illustrate a common theme in Edison's life, a compulsive workaholic obsessed with success at all costs.
The many movies about Steve Jobs of Apple released in recent years show many similarities to Edison, a brilliant man with a mind for innovation, improving existing ideas to develop new products. A man who knew how to take control of the media spotlight when he had the opportunity. A man with a dark side that was driven to success at all costs.
Thomas Alva Edison prolific inventor and legendary lunatic https://geekhistory.com/content/thomas-alva-edison-prolific-inventor-and-legendary-lunatic
You don't need to be a genius to know why Thomas Edison was popular https://geekhistory.com/content/you-dont-need-be-genius-know-why-thomas-edison-was-popular