The Papers of Thomas A. Edison (2011-2014)

FAIN: RQ-50570-11

Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8559)
Paul B. Israel (Project Director: November 2010 to May 2016)

Completion of volume 8 and the beginning of work on volume 9 of the Papers of Thomas Edison, covering the period 1885-1889. (36 months)

The Papers of Thomas A. Edison is a fifteen-volume book edition that will contain 6,500 transcribed and annotated letters, notebook entries, experimental drawings, legal agreements, marketing plans, autobiographical writings, and other documents from Edison's lengthy career. This proposal primarily seeks funding to complete Volume 8 (1885-1887). In this volume Edison remarries and returns to full-time laboratory research, building a large new laboratory near his home in West Orange, New Jersey. Edison continues research on electric light technology, develops a growing interest in scientific research and renews his work on telecommunications technology and sound recording. We also will begin work on Volume 9, which focuses on the battle between DC and AC electrical systems during which Edison plays a major role in the debate over the use of electrocution for capital crimes. He also develops an improved phonograph, begins work on motion pictures, and makes a celebrated visit to Paris.

Media Coverage

Thomas Edison: America's First Modern Innovator (Media Coverage)
Author(s):
Publication: Tech News Daily
Date: 4/6/2012
Abstract: Article about Edison's transformation of invention into a broader process of R&D and innovation.
URL: http://http://www.technewsdaily.com/5648-thomas-edison-modern-innovator.html

Legacy and Significance of Thomas Edison (Media Coverage)
Publication: Yomiuri Daily News
Date: 3/2/2012
Abstract: Article for Japan's largest daily newspaper, which included an interview of director and editor Paul Israel, about the legacy and significance of Thomas Edison

Associated Products

A New Radiant Force’: Thomas Edison’s Inquiry into the Implications of Electromagnetic Field Theory (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: A New Radiant Force’: Thomas Edison’s Inquiry into the Implications of Electromagnetic Field Theory
Author: Paul Israel
Author: Louis Carlat
Abstract: What happens when a new interpretive framework passes into the hands of a practitioner of applied basic research? Thomas Edison, perhaps the most accomplished technological thinker in the U.S., was such a person in 1885 when he took up the implications of electromagnetic field theory. Edison's recent work on wireless telegraphy coincided with papers by British mathematician and engineer Oliver Heaviside, who, like Edison, was a former telegrapher and a capable experimentalist. The start of Edison's effort is marked by several pages of undated and previously overlooked tables outlining reciprocal relationships between electrical and magnetic energy and the passage of energy through corresponding devices such as electromagnets and condensers. In these pages he began to formulate an applied research program into the convertibility of energy and its propagation through space. Edison hoped to generate new knowledge that might have practical applications. He also sought to identify a new form of energy. He had for years believed in the possible existence of such energy, provisionally named "XYZ," and now prepared to look systematically for "a new radiant force, lying somewhere between light and heat on one hand and magnetism and electricity on the other." Edison's inquiry took him not to Maxwell but back to Faraday's Experimental Researches, from which he adapted ideas and experiments. Adopting Faraday's outlook and methods, Edison pursued XYZ and related questions, hoping to make a fundamental discovery of practical importance.
Date: 11/22/2013
Primary URL: http://hssonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Abstracts.pdf
Primary URL Description: Link to Session Abstracts for 2013 HSS Meeting
Conference Name: History of Science Society Annual Conference

Learning about Invention from the Papers of Thomas A. Edison (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Learning about Invention from the Papers of Thomas A. Edison
Abstract: Dr. Paul Israel will provide an overview of the Edison Papers project at Rutgers University and how it has changed our understanding of Thomas Edison's work as an inventor as well as the broader history of invention and innovation. His overview of the Edison Papers will include a brief history of the project, what it has accomplished to date, and its plans for the future. Dr. Israel's discussion of Edison's career will focus on the central role Edison played in transforming invention from the shop-based practice of lone inventors relying on funding from local capitalists to organized team research in corporate-sponsored R&D laboratories. In addition, he will examine the ways in which Edison pioneered modern innovation practices in bringing his inventions to the market.
Author: Paul Israel
Date: 02/20/2013
Location: Grand Colonial Inn, Hampton, NJ

Volume 8: Some Highlights from the Papers of Thomas A. Edison (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Volume 8: Some Highlights from the Papers of Thomas A. Edison
Abstract: Dr. Paul Israel will present a slide talk highlighting some of the key events covered by the forthcoming Volume 8, New Beginnings ( 1885–1887) of The Papers of Thomas A. Edison.
Author: Paul Israel
Date: 06/15/2013
Location: Thomas Edison National Historical Park, West Orange, NJ

New Jersey: State of Invention (Conference/Institute/Seminar)
Title: New Jersey: State of Invention
Abstract: The "New Jersey: State of Invention" conference, to run from 1:00 - 5:30 p.m. and conclude with a reception, will feature noted speakers and a variety of perspectives on the continued inventiveness in the Garden State. The featured speaker will be Princess Elettra Marconi Giovannelli, daughter of the famed 20th century Italian scientist and radio inventor Guglielmo Marconi. Other scheduled speakers at the "State of Invention" conference include Paul Israel, director of the Edison Papers Project; Mary Chute, New Jersey State Librarian; Sheldon Hochheiser, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers historian; Brian D. Levine, Mayor of Franklin Park, NJ; Marianne Gaunt, Rutgers' Vice President for Information Services and University Librarian; and others. The conference is free and open to the public. It is cosponsored by the Rutgers University Libraries, the Edison Papers Project, and the Classics Department of the School of Arts and Sciences.
Date Range: 06/28/2013
Location: Alexander Library, Rutgers University
Primary URL: http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/news/nj-state-invention-conference-alexander-library-sat-june-28th

Edison’s West Orange Laboratory, (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Edison’s West Orange Laboratory,
Abstract: Dr. Paul Israel will present a slide talk on the history of Edison's West Orange Laboratory.
Author: Paul Israel
Date: 06/16/2012
Location: Thomas Edison National Historical Park, West Orange, NJ

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