Thomas Edison has been argued to be one of the greatest inventors of all time. However, He has been argued to be one of the biggest frauds of all time, as well. These claims have some evidence behind them but many researchers can’t really decide between each claim.
Thomas Alva Edison was born of Samuel and Nancy Edison on February 11th, 1847. He had six siblings that were all older than him. Many have suspected that at a young age, Thomas not only had scarlet fever but also had many ear infections. The abnormal amount of these caused Thomas to have a defective hearing. Many have also speculated that his poor hearing was due to an accident that involved a train. He worked at a train and railroad line. While working at the railroad line he was able to save a three-year-old boy on the tracks.
He was home-schooled at the age of eleven by his mother that caused him to not learn as much as others. He worked a night shift at the Associated Press in Louisville, Kentucky that allowed him to read and do many things that advanced his education. This reach of different books even allowed him to learn morse code. He was able to become a far more advanced human being. These studies made him become an inventor.
The hearing-impaired inventor later grew up to create many things. He created the phonograph and an array of moving picture films. However, the real reason many people believe that he is a fraud is the lack of information we have on his work on the light bulb.
Joseph Swan was an English inventor that invented the carbon-based light bulb as opposed to platinum-based bulbs. He illustrated a working, standing lamp according to Smithsonian. “Like earlier renditions of the light bulb, Swan's filaments were placed in a vacuum tube to minimize their exposure to oxygen, extending their lifespan. Unfortunately for Swan, the vacuum pumps of his day were not efficient as they are now, and while his prototype worked well for a demonstration, it was impractical in actual use”, according to LiveScience. Edison and Swan worked together to improve the design. They broke off their Swan-Edison agreement when Swan found an electrical company in England. Many people rely on this fact that Edison actually took his work from Swan. There were also two Canadian inventors in 1874 that filed a patent for an electric lamp with different sized carbon rods that were unsuccessful,l but were later bought by Edison.
As you can see, there were many claims that have led people to believe that Edison was a fraud. But the question is, do you believe them?