The Wizard of Menlo Park and the Master of Lighting
by Lillian Bonar
Essay: The Wizard of Menlo Park and the Master of Lighting
Pages: 11
Rating: 3 stars
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Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla were two of the most influential minds of the 1800s. Edison, the Wizard of Menlo
Park, worked hard his whole life to achieve great feats in science. Tesla, the Master of Lightning, had a brilliant
mind and contributed to an electronic growth that changed American history. Thomas Edison is such a familiar
name, but Tesla on the other hand is more obscure. Edison is widely known by the American public, but his
intellectual equal and adversary is often forgotten. Edison and Tesla were once friends and worked on many
projects together, but an argument over a bet changed their friendship and the world forever (D’Alto). Both men
challenged each other throughout their lives, and their differences in inventions, productivity, financial success,
and fame should have etched their names into history for eternity, but that is not the case. Thomas Edison has
always been in the hearts and minds of the American public as the greatest inventor, but the facts may proclaim
Nikola Tesla to be the better man and more deserving of the public’s admiration.
Thomas Edison’s inventions were simplistic at heart, and they satisfied a direct and immediate need. “Among the
best known of his inventions are a stock-ticker machine, the incandescent light bulb, an automatic telegraphy
machine, the phonograph, and the motion picture machine” (“Thomas Alva Edison”). All of Edison’s inventions
required DC or direct current to work. Edison’s constant use of the direct current power source for all his
inventions set his work apart from Tesla’s. The constant need for Edison’s inventions caused a drastic increase in
Edison’s productivity. As a young man, Edison developed very productive habits, which he translated into the latter
part of...