發明大王愛迪生的十大趣聞(上)

A small town in the Midwest was the birthplace of one of the most inventive geniuses of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Milan, Ohio on February 11, 1847, Thomas Alva Edison suffered through several illnesses during his infancy and toddler years. The youngest of seven siblings, Edison wasted little time making his presence in the world known.

19世紀末20世紀初，在美國中西部的一個小鎮誕生了一位極具發明精神的天才。1847年2月11日，愛迪生降生於俄亥俄州的米蘭鎮。兒時的托馬斯·阿爾瓦·愛迪生體弱多病。身爲七個兄弟姐妹中最小的一個，愛迪生只用了很短的時間就功成名就。

Edison's formal schooling was limited, and by the age of 12 he had begun his working career. From that point forward, he never stopped working, inventing and creating. With well over 1000 patents to his credit, Edison prided himself on never giving up on an idea even when the final result proved unsuccessful. Edison's work was at times all consuming and his main concern. As his professional life was taking off, his personal life suffered a tragic blow. While his relationships with his older children suffered, Edison would later be given another chance at being a loving husband and father. Learn more about Thomas Edison with the following ten interesting facts about the his life and times.

愛迪生在校求學的時間非常短暫， 12歲就開始工作了，從那以後，就沒停止過工作、發明和創造的步伐。他擁有1000多項專利，愛迪生爲自己從不放棄一些想法而感到自豪，即便有些想法最終證明是錯的。愛迪生的工作有時候會既耗時間又耗精力。正當他的事業蒸蒸日上之際，私人生活卻遭受了嚴重的打擊。雖然他與孩子們的關係受到影響，但是後來愛迪生又得到了一個成爲有責任心的丈夫與父親的機會。下面來看看有關愛迪生的生活和他那個時代的十個有趣事實吧。

on Was Home-schooled

10.愛迪生在家上學

Thomas Alva Edison was a sickly child. Between his illnesses and his family's move to Port Huron, Michigan, he was unable to begin school until the age of seven. Full of curiosity from a very early age, Edison was always asking questions and had difficulty keeping his attention focused on the task at hand. He was unable to sit still for very long and was uncomfortable with the school's rigid environment.

小時候的托馬斯·阿爾瓦·愛迪生體弱多病。在他生病和全家搬到密歇根休倫港期間都沒能步入學堂，直到七歲時纔開始上學。愛迪生很小的時候就對一切充滿好奇，他會問很多問題，並且很難把注意力集中到自己手頭的事物上。他也很難長時間端正坐姿，對於學校嚴格的規範總是感覺很不自在。

After attending school for only 12 weeks, Edison had established himself as a difficult student, and his teacher deemed him unmanageable. Upon learning of this characterization of her son, Edison's mother was very angry. A former teacher herself, Mrs. Edison quickly removed him from the school and assumed the role of home school educator. Nancy Edison supported her son's insatiable thirst for knowledge. By teaching her son reading, writing and arithmetic and allowing him to pursue any subject of interest, Mrs. Edison helped him to channel his energy in a positive direction. He began to realize that his learning possibilities were endless and he could actually teach himself anything he wished. This set him on a path of constant self-improvement which he continued throughout his life. Edison credited his mother for shaping the person he became. Edison never returned to formal schooling. At the age of 12 he began operating a newsstand aboard a railroad train that ran between his hometown of Port Huron and Detroit. Wishing to make use of every moment, Edison set up both a printing press and laboratory in an unused rail car where he could be found in his spare time.

僅僅上學12周之後，愛迪生就認爲自己不太適合呆在學校，老師也認爲他難以管理。聽了老師對自己孩子相關情況的描述之後，愛迪生的母親非常生氣，由於愛迪生的母親以前也是一位老師，所以她立馬讓愛迪生離開學校，並充當起了家庭教師的角色。愛迪生的母親南希·愛迪生非常支持愛迪生對知識求知若渴的態度。在教授閱讀，寫作以及算數、並且允許他鑽研自己感興趣的學科的同時，愛迪生的母親還引導他向積極的方面努力。愛迪生開始意識到自己學習的潛力巨大，能自學他想學的任何東西。這一點讓他一生都在自我提升的道路上不斷前進，愛迪生稱讚道是他的母親造就了今日的自己。愛迪生後來再也沒有去學校上學。12歲就開始在往返於自己的家鄉休倫港和底特律的火車上經營報刊亭。爲了充分利用每分每秒，愛迪生還利用自己業餘時間在一輛廢舊火車上配備印刷機和實驗室。

on Was Almost Totally Deaf

9.愛迪生幾乎完全失聰

One of the country's most prolific inventors, Thomas Edison achieved great success while suffering from a severe disability for much of his life. While the exact cause is unclear, Edison's sense of hearing began to decline at the age of 12. Although his father and one of his son's suffered from hearing loss as well, indicating it was a genetic condition, there were several incidents in his life that may have made the disability even worse.

雖然聽力障礙給他的生活帶來不便，但是發明大王托馬斯·愛迪生還是取得了巨大的成就。12歲時愛迪生的聽覺能力開始下降，然而造成聽力差的具體原因還不是很清楚。他的父親和他的一個兒子同愛迪生一樣也受到聽力障礙的困擾，這也就暗示了他的聽覺障礙是遺傳引起的。而生活中的意外事故可能讓他聽覺能力變得更弱。

Edison suffered from scarlet fever, and it is suspected that he had numerous untreated ear infections since there were no antibiotics available at the time for that condition. It is also reported that a train conductor struck Edison on both ears as punishment for one of his experiments causing a fire on the railroad train. Edison himself believed his disability may have been caused when someone, attempting to keep him from falling off a moving train, grabbed him by the ears. Edison claims to have felt something click in his inner ear and began having hearing difficulties after that. Many were surprised that Edison did not help his own cause by inventing an effective hearing aid. While Edison did dabble in it for a bit, his efforts were far less than wholehearted. By his own admission, Edison actually saw his hearing loss as a positive thing. He claimed it allowed him to get much better sleep than most. He also felt it eliminated distractions while he was working. He was able to drown out the constant noise of everyday conversations and was thus able to work more efficiently.

愛迪生曾經患過猩紅熱，由於當時還沒有抗生素治療猩紅熱，導致耳部大面積感染。據說愛迪生在某次實驗中致列車着火，火車管理員便扇他巴掌以示懲戒。愛迪生自己認爲他糟糕的聽覺能力是當時一個人防止他掉下飛馳的火車而揪住他的耳朵造成的。他也承認當時感覺耳朵內部像被針紮了一樣疼，從那以後聽力就出現問題。很多人對於愛迪生沒有發明一個幫助自己改善聽力的設備而感到奇怪。然而愛迪生確實對此有所涉獵，但是他並沒有全心全意的投入。在他自己看來，聽力障礙實際上是件好事，這樣會讓他的睡眠質量比大多數人高；也可以幫助他在工作時集中注意力，使他可以在嘈雜的環境中更高效的工作。

on's Heroics Helped Launch His Career

8.愛迪生的英勇之舉助他開啓職業生涯

By 1862, Thomas Edison was already an entrepreneur and the publisher of a small newspaper. Only 15 years of age, he had spent much of the previous three years experimenting with chemicals and anything else he could get his hands on. He was proud of each success but learned even more from each failure and continued his quest for knowledge.

1862年時，托馬斯·愛迪生已經是一位企業家以及一家小型報社的出版商。年僅15歲的愛迪生在過去三年的大部分時間裏都在做化學實驗及各種能做的其他實驗。他爲自己取得的每一次成功而自豪，然而失敗讓他收穫更多。無論成功還是失敗，都激勵着他不斷追求新的知識。

As fate would have it, Edison experienced a life-changing moment at the very tracks on which he had spent his early teen years. Jimmie MacKenzie, the three-year old son of a railroad station master, had wandered away and ended up on the railroad tracks. Edison, who just happened to be at the Mount Clemens Train Depot that day saw a runaway train bearing down on the child. Realizing he had to do something, Edison managed to push the little boy out of harm's way just before the train reached them. When the boy's father realized what Edison had done, he tried to think of a way to adequately repay him for his heroism. He decided to teach Edison all about railway telegraphy, leading to a full-time job for the teenager. For the next five years, Edison traveled across the country as a telegrapher. The need for skilled telegraph operators was great as the Civil War was underway. Not one to be satisfied doing the same thing over and over, Edison began working on the telegraph equipment in attempts to improve its performance. After returning to Michigan for a short time, Edison left for the east coast. He was confident by this time that he could make a living as an inventor. He settled in Boston, Massachusetts, where he submitted his first patent.

在命運的安排下，愛迪生青年時期發生了一件改變其一生的事情。一次，一位鐵路站站長的3歲兒子吉米·麥肯齊在鐵軌附近玩耍結果跑到了鐵軌上。當時，愛迪生恰好在克萊門斯山車務段，他看見一輛飛馳的列車正向那可憐的孩子駛來。此時的愛迪生意識到自己必須立刻做些什麼。就在列車到達之前，他衝上前去成功將那小男孩帶離了危險。當男孩的父親瞭解到愛迪生的舉動後，他很想回報愛迪生的英勇行爲。於是他決定教給愛迪生關於鐵路電報的知識，並且給了這位年輕人一份全職工作。在接下來的五年裏，愛迪生作爲一名報務員奔波於全國各地。當時正處於美國內戰，對於高技能報務員的需求非常大。然而愛迪生並不是一個滿足於不斷重複做同一件事情的人。他開始研究電報設備，試圖改良其性能。回到密歇根不久後，愛迪生又去了東海岸。那時的他相信自己能夠以一名發明家的身份謀生。他在馬薩諸塞州的波士頓安定了下來並提交了自己的第一份專利申請。

on Designs A Vote Tabulating Machine

7.愛迪生設計了一臺投票製表機

Soon after arriving in Boston, Edison, along with other inventors, began working on ways to assist state and federal legislative bodies work more efficiently. He concentrated his efforts on a way to quickly and accurately tabulate votes placed on various pieces of legislation. Legislation was deemed either passed or not passed on the sole basis of a voice vote. Edison believed he could invent a machine that would be much more objective in its counting. In 1868, he submitted his first patent request for an Electrographic Vote Recorder.

在抵達波士頓後不久，愛迪生連同其他發明家開始研究如何協助各州與聯邦立法機構更有效地工作。他集中精力研究一種能快速準確地將不同議員的投票製表的方法。原先，立法是基於口頭表決的，其結果只有通過或者不通過。愛迪生相信自己能發明一種機器，使得票數統計更爲客觀。1868年，他爲自己的電子投票記錄儀提交了第一份專利申請。

Edison's invention consisted of a device on which all legislator's names were listed. When placing a vote, the legislators would move a switch to a "yes" or "no" position which would then record via electric impulse and transfer to a chemically treated paper providing a printout of each vote cast. A colleague of Edison named Dewitt Roberts was intrigued by the machine and paid Edison $100 for a share in its revenue. Convinced the invention would be welcomed, Roberts took it and presented it to the members of Congress in Washington, D.C. To both men's surprise, the invention was not enthusiastically received. Legislators were not anxious to have votes tabulated so quickly as they believed it would interfere with their ability to sway voters, make deals and use a filibuster to change outcomes. Unable to drum up any interest in his invention, Edison abandoned the production of the vote recorder. He did, however, learn a valuable lesson going forward. He made a vow to himself never to work on a product that he wasn't sure the public had an interest in.

愛迪生的這項發明包括一臺能夠將所有投票議員名字列出的設備。在唱票表決時，投票者按下電鈕，切換到"是"或"否"的位置，機器將通過電脈衝記錄並將結果轉到化學處理過的紙張上，從而將每張選票打印出來。愛迪生的一位名叫德威特·羅伯茨的同事對這一發明很感興趣，於是支付其100美金來換取這項發明未來收益的部分收益。羅伯茨相信該發明將受到廣泛歡迎，於是把它呈給了位於華盛頓的國會議員們。令兩人吃驚的是，此發明並沒有被議員們廣泛接受。立法者們並不急於將投票製表，因爲他們認爲這會妨礙他們動搖選民、進行內幕交易以及通過阻撓議案通過來改變結果。由於對自己的這一發明失去了興趣，愛迪生放棄生產投票記錄儀。然而，他在前進的道路上卻學到了寶貴的一課。他發誓，自己不再研究任何無法使公衆產生興趣的發明。

on Opens Research And Development Center In New Jersey

6.愛迪生在新澤西州建立了開放性研發中心

After a few unsuccessful ventures while still in Boston, Thomas Edison began losing investors. He decided to move to New York as he had been working on an improved stock ticker machine. To his delight, Western Union, his employer, offered to purchase all of his machines for $40,000. This was enough to set up business in a Newark, New Jersey warehouse. The business produced improved telegraphic and stock ticker equipment while Edison was hard at work on new ideas. He fell in love with one of his employees, 16 year-old Mary Stilwell, and married her in 1871.

在波士頓經歷了幾次失敗的投機後，愛迪生開始失去投資者。因爲一直在改良股票機，所以他決定搬到紐約去。令他高興的是，他的僱主西部聯盟電報公司斥資40000美金購買了他所有的機器，這些錢足夠他在新澤西州紐瓦克市的倉庫裏創業了。當愛迪生在努力地構思新點子時，那些商人將改良的電報機和股票機投入生產。在此期間，他愛上了他的一位員工——年方16的瑪麗·史迪威，並於1871年與她步入婚姻的殿堂。

In 1875, Edison felt he had outgrown the warehouse in Newark and purchased land in the small town of Menlo Park, New Jersey. With the help of his father, Edison built not only a main laboratory, but other specific use buildings as well. Edison officially moved the business out of Newark in 1876. Menlo Park was the first research and development center of its kind in the United States. Many of Edison's greatest inventions occurred here, and he became fondly known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park." Edison himself named the site "Invention Factory" in 1878. He certainly put this small town in New Jersey on the map. Meanwhile, Edison also moved his wife and two children, Marion and Thomas Alva Jr. to Menlo Park. His third child, William, was born two years later. Though they were close by, Edison was so engrossed in his work that he spent little time at home. His relationships with his family, particularly his children, suffered as a result.

1875年，愛迪生覺得他的事業已經發展成熟不用再在紐瓦克市的倉庫裏待着了。於是他在新澤西州門洛園的一個小鎮上買了地。在父親的幫助下，愛迪生蓋了一棟主實驗室大樓和幾棟特殊用途樓。1876年，愛迪生正式地將自己的事業搬出紐瓦克市，而門洛園是他在美國的第一處研發中心。愛迪生的許多偉大發明都誕生於此，他也以"門洛園奇才"而名揚千里。1878年，愛迪生將其命名"發明工廠"。也正是他讓這個在新澤西州的小鎮日漸爲世人熟知。同時，愛迪生也帶着妻子與兩個孩子——馬裏恩和小托馬斯·阿爾瓦搬到了門洛園。第三個孩子威廉也在兩年後出生了。雖然他們拉近了距離，但是愛迪生十分專注於工作，很少回家。也因此而影響了他和家人的關係，尤其是和孩子們關係。

審校：哎呀 編輯：Freya然 來源：前十網