1-158-117 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Thomas Alva Edison, American inventor, in his laboratory at Menlo Park, New Jersey, USA, working on the perfection of the incandescent light bulb, 1870s (1920s). 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. After a painting.