Thomas Edison and Modern America: A Brief History with Documents

by Theresa M. Collins and Lisa Gitelman

Thomas A. Edison remains rooted in the popular imagination primarily as the inventor of the practical electric light, but he also continues to function in the lexicons of advertising and politics as a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312247346
• ISBN13: 9780312247348
• Release Date: May 2002
• Publisher: Bedford Books
• Length: 205 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

From HISTORY TEACHER Review

"... The collection's strength is in the broad diversity of primary sources offered and the issues that Collins and Gitelman raise for student discussion. This is no mere biography of Edison the "Great Inventor." The sources include selections from Edison's memoirs, diaries, notebooks, and letters, as well as accounts of Edison and his inventions as presented by the popular media. We thus witness Edison fashioning his own self image-sometimes in contradictory ways-just as the press was turning him into a media hero. Laboratory records by Edison and his assistants chart the development of the phonograph and the use of electricity, while newspaper and magazine articles bear witness to the intense speculation surrounding the social effects Edison's inventions would create."David A. Reid, University of North Florida