ThomasAlvaEdison发明家爱迪生ThomasAlvaEdisonwasamanofwonderfulabilitywhohadthegoodlucktobebornatagoodtime.IntheperiodjustaftertheAmericanCivilWartheUnitedStateswasgrowingconditionswererightforthetalentsofamanlikeEdison.TheEdisonfamilyhadcometotheUnitedStatesfromHollandintheearlypartofthel8thcentury．ThomasAlvatheyoungestofSamuel'ssevenchildrenwasbornin1847.Thomaswasanunusuallycuriouschild．Evenatanearlyagehelovedtoreadandmakeexperiments．Becausehewassodreamyandquietateacheronceaccusedhimofbeingstupid．Thomas'smotherwassodispleasedbythisremarkthatshetookhersonoutofschoolandneversenthimback.Shetookchargeofhiseducationherselfandtaughthimreadinghistoryscienceandphilosophy．Edisonwasaveryquickreaderandherememberedeverything．Oncehegottheideaofstartingatthefirstshelfofalargelibraryandreadingeverythinginit．Butafterreadingthroughfifteenfeetofbookshegaveupthisambition.InordertoearnmoneyforbooksandforhisscientificexperimentsThomassoldvegetablesfromthefamilygarden.ThisworkdidnotbringinenoughmoneyandsohebegantosellnewspapersandcandyonatrainthatranbetweenPortHuronMichiganandDetroit．BecausepeopleweresoeagerforthelatestnewsabouttheCivilWarwhichwasthenatitsheightThomasdecidedinFebruary1862whenhewasfifteenyearsoldtoprintanewspaperofhisowntheWeeklyHerald,inabaggagecarofthetrainwhereheworked．Infouryearsheearnedtwothousanddollarsfromthisbusiness.WhileheworkedonthetrainyoungEdisoncontinuedtoexperimentsettingupalaboratoryinthebaggagecar.Onedayastickofphosphorusfelltothefloorandsetthecaronfire．TheconductorofthetrainassoangrythathethrewTomandallhisequipmentoffthetrainatthenextstation；healsostruckTomcausingapermanentinjurywhichlatermadehimdeafintherightear.Onedaynotlongafterhehadstartedhisnewspaper,Edisonsawachildplayingonthetracksinfrontofatrain.Hejumpedoffthestationplatformandsnatchedthechildfromthewheelsofthetrain.ThefatherwhohappenedtobethestationmasterwassogratefulthatheofferedtoteachTomtobecomeatelegraphoperator．HegavehimlessonsfourdaysaweekafterthestationhadclosedforthenightandinthreeweeksEdisonwasabettertelegrapherthanhisteacher.Edisonwassoberandindependentforhisage,buthenwasrestlessandverycarelessinhisdress．Hebegantowanderfromcitytocityandfromjobtojob．Becausehisideasweretoostrangetopleasethemenwhohiredhim,theyoftenaskedhimtoleave．Duringthistime,heworkedinIndianapolis,Cincinnati,Memphis,andLouisville．EdisonwenttoBoston'swherehehadbeenpromisedworkasoperator,mainlybecauseoftheneathandwritinginhisletterofapplication,Whenheappearedinthatcity,helookedsountidyandstrangethatthesuperintendentaskedhimtoreturnlaterinthedaytotakeatestintelegraphy,withtheideaofmakingthetestsodifficultthattheyoungmancouldnotpossiblypassit,Astherapidmessagecamein,Edisonrealizedclerksinthestationwereplayingajokeonhim.TheyhadarrangedforthenewYorkoperatortosendhimamessage,fasterandfaster,inanefforttomakeEdisonadmitthathecouldnotwriteitdownatsucharapidpace,ButEdisonwasnotdiscouraged.Hedecidedtooutwitthesefellows,andhebegantosendamessagehimself.HesaidtotheNewYorkoperator,“Comeon,don'tgotosleep．Getbusy!Thatendedthejoke,andEdisonwonhisjob,aswellasthetitleoffastesttelegraphoperatorintheWesternUnionCompany.In1869heborrowedsomemoneyandwenttoNewYork．Duringthefirstthreeyearshespentthere,henearlydiedofstarvation.HesleptinaroombelongingtoacompanythatsentinformationonstockpricestothebusinesshousesofNewYork．Onedaythema...
