Lives of invention. Patenting and productivity among great inventors in the United States (1790- 1930)

Thomas Edison is one of the most famous and productive inventors in American history. His inventive career spanned the period from the end of the Civil War through 1931: an era during which technological advances transformed everyday life. He is noted as the most prolific U.S. patentee, with a total of 1 093 U.S. patents to his credit, including improvements in telegraphy, incandescent light bulbs, the stock ticker, storage batteries, movies, the phonograph, automobiles and flying machines. E...