Thomas Alva Edison is the Greatest American, because he improved the light bulb. After the phonograph invention Thomas began to experiment with incandescent light. Arc lamps were used for streets and halls at the time, but based off the research from Student Resource Center-Gold they,“could not be used domestically”. The main problem for Thomas was that he needed to find a type of material to be used as a filament. The material would need to be able to not burn or melt. Edison began to realize that the filament would not burn if it was enclosed in a glass bulb. At the time Thomas was constructing generators, and he figured that low resistance light bulbs would require huge generators. On the other hand high resistance light bulbs wouldn’t, and would operate better. Edison was now in search for a filament that would glow for quite a time. Except it could not burn out when it glowed. Thomas experienced with several substances for the light bulb to glow. Carbonized paper and cotton thread were the last two to be experimented on. It was not until October 22, 1879 that Edison’s light bulb stayed lit for fifteen hours. On November 1, Thomas applied for a patent on a light bulb with carbon filament. Without Thomas’s improvement of the light bulb who knows what light resource we would use today when being indoors. Edison didn’t technically invent the light bulb, but did improve it to where it was more affordable. The real inventor of the light bulb was chemist Joseph Wilson Swan. On the other hand Thomas discovered a different material to be used as the filament. The material was charred cotton thread, and stayed lit for forty hours. That was a really great success of the improvement of the light bulb. Thomas gave the idea to other inventors to keep moving forward in what they are doing. The improvement of the light bulb showed that you can improve something if try hard. Thomas’s improvement gave other inventors the key to our world today, and that's why he is the Greatest American.
Glick, Thomas. ""Edison, Thomas Alva(1847-1931)"" Student Resource Center- Gold.
Gale, 2003. Web. 25 Feb. 2010. ""Edison, Thomas Alva(1847-1931)"" Student Resource Center- Gold. Gale, 2006. Web. 25 Feb. 2010
"Thomas Edison's Patent Application for the Light Bulb." America's Historical Documents. Web. 2 Mar. 2010.
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