1-158-116 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor, listening to a recording on an electric model of his phonograph powered by a wet battery, c1906. Edison (1847-1931) was a prolific inventor who registered over 1000 patents, many of which were related to the development of electricity. His inventions, in collaboration with his staff, include the automatic telegraph, the electric lamp, the phonograph (gramophone) and the kinetoscope, an early form of cinematography. From A travers l'Electricite (All About Electricity) by Georges Dary. (Paris, c1906).