In 1888 he invented the kinetoscope, the first machine to produce motion pictures by a rapid succession of individual views. Among his later noteworthy inventions was the Edison storage battery (an alkaline, nickel-iron storage battery). He also developed a phonograph in which the sound was impressed on a disk instead of a cylinder. This phonograph had a diamond needle and other improved features. By synchronizing his phonograph and kinetoscope, he produced, in 1913, the first talking moving pictures.
Altogether, Edison patented more than 1000 inventions. He was a technologist rather than a scientist, adding little to original scientific knowledge. In 1883, however, he did observe the flow of electrons from a heated filament-the so-called Edison effect.
Edison was appointed Chevalier (1878) and Commander (1889) of the Legion of Honor of France. In 1892 he was awarded the Albert Medal of the Society of Arts of Great Britain and in 1928 received the Congressional Gold Medal "for development and application of inventions that have revolutionized civilization in the last century." |
