Thomas Edison is mostly famous for his inventions of the
light bulb and phonograph. However, he created many more things that we still
use today. For example, he made the early version of fruit preservation. He
came about this discovery when he was working with light bulbs and glass vacuum
tubes. To preserve the food, fruit or vegetables (etc.) was put in a glass jar
and then all the air was sucked out by another glass piece so they lasted
longer. He applied for his patent in 1881. This way to keep food fresh led the
way to today’s machines that can be found in any household as vacuum sealers.
Linnea
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One invention that Thomas Edison was a bit less well known
for was the magnetic ore separator. The idea was to use magnets to separate
iron ore from unfeasible lower grade ores. This meant that uninhibited mines
could be lucrative through the removal of iron from sand at the sites. At that
time, iron ore prices had risen to extraordinary heights. While Thomas Edison’s
lab was preoccupied with evolving a magnetic ore separator and putting it to
use; he acquired rights to 145 abandoned mines and set up a pilot project at
the Ogden mine in N.J. He poured money into the development, progressively
selling most of his interest in the General Electric Company to pay for his
work, but the engineering problems were never worked out and the price of iron
ore fell which lead him to abandon the separator.
Maria
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One invention that I was surprised that Thomas Edison
invented was the synthetic rubber that we got to see in the museum’s Chemistry
Lab. Edison worked with many different types of plants to create rubber. He
finally settled on goldenrod to make the best product. I was surprised because
of people, including myself, usually, associate Edison strictly with inventions
such as the light-bulb. It was interesting to learn that Edison also
experimented with plants and their uses. It showed me that he was a very
versatile and innovative inventor.
Kristin
