Tag: Thomas Edison

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Thomas Edison is Here!

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There was an ominous knock on the door around 7 p.m. last night. By the time I opened it there was nothing to be seen except a package, a manila envelope the same size I generally use to send out books to those who request signed copies via my website. And then it dawned on me – Edison was here!

Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World

I finished the writing of Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World just as summer was turning to fall. Then copy editing, design, printing, scheduling (all thankfully done by my great editorial team and publisher). It seemed it would be forever before I would see the book in print, and now the day had come. I was holding it in my hands.

The book was an advance copy sent by my editor. “Congratulations!,” the card inside said. More copies would come when the printer’s shipment reached the warehouse. That would be in July. Next month. It was finally happening.

I’ve been through this before, of course. Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity followed a similar schedule and my heart raced when I held that first copy. That thrill returns, just as I hope it will for every advance copy of every book I write.

Check out a preview of Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World.

Monday had been a bad day – it seemed everyone had their hand in my pocket, the roof was leaking, and nagging problems just didn’t seem to want to go away. But Tuesday made up for all that. A day later, I’m still thrilled.

I’ll be doing a Goodreads giveaway of both books, Tesla and Edison, shortly so check back soon for details. The Edison book in both hardcopy and e-book formats will be available for pre-order on the Barnes and Noble website any time now, and you’ll find the book in Barnes and Noble bookstores in late July.

Stay tuned!

David J. Kent has been a scientist for thirty-five years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His book on Thomas Edison is due in Barnes and Noble stores in July 2016.

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Thomas Edison – Birth of an Inventor

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Edison cover on BNThomas Edison is well known as one of America’s greatest inventors. But how did he get his start? My new book, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/edison-david-j-kent/1121320316?ean=9781435162136 (July 2016 release date), takes a look at how Edison fell into a career of invention, feuded with other inventors like Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse, and changed the world. From the prologue:

One misty morning in 1862, as the Civil War raged throughout the nation, the teenage Tom Edison saved a life, and in doing so set the stage for a career of invention that would change the lives of millions. Lingering at the train station in Mount Clemens, Michigan, Edison was gazing over the freight cars being moved around the rail yard. Suddenly, he noticed Jimmie MacKenzie, the stationmaster’s young son, playing on the tracks and oblivious to a rail car speedily approaching. Recognizing the danger, Edison “made a dash for the child, whom he picked up and lifted to safety without a second to spare, as the wheel of the car struck his heel.” Falling hard along the gravel embankment, both Edison and Jimmie cut their faces and hands, but were otherwise unharmed. It was the scare of their young lives. In return for his heroic act, the stationmaster offered to teach Edison the art and science of telegraphy, and Edison accepted. This decision would change his life—and ours.

There was another profound impact from his train days – deafness.

He recounted being roughly lifted onto the train by his ears, at which point he heard a “pop!” After that, his hearing steadily degenerated. Another report suggests a baggage master on the train “boxed his ears.” Or perhaps it was a history of illness as a child or a congenital disease? Although the cause is unknown, Thomas Edison became progressively hard of hearing during his lifetime, which impacted both his inventive ability (he claimed the affliction helped him concentrate better) and his attitude (he would “not hear critiques at convenient times”). His hearing impairment played a recurring, and sometimes ironic, role during his long career.

These two fundamental events as a young man helped shape his personality and his career path. Suddenly the idea of toiling away all night and day in the lab doesn’t seem so surprising. That said, there are many things you don’t know about Thomas Edison.

Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World is due out in July 2016 from Fall River Press, Sterling Publishing. The Nook e-book version is already available for pre-order on the Barnes and Noble website. The hardcover book will be available for pre-order shortly. Please help spread the word and watch for more previews here.

And if you’re interested in Nikola Tesla, check out this comparison: Edison vs Tesla: Two Very Different Men of Invention.

David J. Kent is the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (2013) and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World (2016) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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Update on Tesla and Edison

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Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison had a friendly rivalry. Okay, not always so friendly. Having written books on both inventors, I can say that while they had a lot in common (including the tendency to work all night long), they were very different men of invention. Here’s where they stand now.

Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World is scheduled for release in July 2016 and will be available in Barnes and Noble bookstores. In fact, BarnesandNoble.com already has the Nook version listed and available for pre-order!

Next to the Nook button you can click on the button for hardcover to see the new cover design, which looks like this:

Edison cover on BN

If you’re interested in either version of the book please pre-order as soon as you can as this will increase the chances that the publisher will order additional printings to keep it in the stores. To get a teaser, check out 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Thomas Edison.

Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity now has over 65,000 in print in the United States plus is also available in at least two languages. Dutch and German editions (below) were published in 2015, a Turkish edition is in the works, and editions translated into several other languages are in negotiations.

Tesla Wizard Dutch edition

Tesla Wizard German edition

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can still find Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity in Barnes and Noble stores and at BN.com, as well as through resellers on Amazon. You can also get a signed first edition directly from me. My two Tesla-related e-books can be downloaded on Amazon.com.

Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time

Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This July promises to be a busy month. Not only does the Edison book come out and Tesla books get translated into additional languages, but I’ll be making a pilgrimage to visit Nikola Tesla’s heritage in Belgrade, Serbia.

Stay tuned for more exciting news about both Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for thirty-five years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (now in its 5th printing) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His book on Thomas Edison is due in Barnes and Noble stores in spring 2016.

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5 Things You Didn’t Know About Thomas Edison (and yes, Tesla)

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Thomas EdisonEveryone knows everything there is to know about Thomas Edison, right? Not so fast. While writing my book on Nikola Tesla I found tons of unknowns about him (see 5 Things You Didn’t Know about Nikola Tesla), and now that I’ve written a book on Thomas Edison I’ve discovered so much about him that likely you didn’t know. Here’s a sample:

  1. Edison was mostly deaf: Edison started losing his hearing at an early age, probably around the time he was working on the railroads as a news butch. The exact cause is a mystery (even Edison had two different versions), but he says it allowed him to ignore the chitchat of people around him and focus on his work.
  2. He had two wives: And six kids. No, he wasn’t a bigamist. His first wife died very young after they had three children, then he married another young woman who gave him three more. Since he often worked 20 hour days and slept on a lab bench, it’s a wonder he found the time for intimacy at all.
  3. His biggest achievement was also his greatest failure: Edison had cornered the market on electricity distribution. He was wiring up New York City from his Pearl Street Power Plant and putting electric lights into the houses of the richest of the rich. Unfortunately it was all DC power and when Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse came along with AC power, well, Edison lost the war of the currents and got tossed from the company he started (we know it today as General Electric).
  4. He invented concrete houses: After 10 years trying to make a go of mining low grade iron ore, Edison turned to making houses out of concrete. The whole thing – including bathtubs, sinks, and stairs – could be built by pouring concrete into prebuilt molds. If you look hard enough, you might find one still standing.
  5. Edison was an avid writer: For a man who was tossed out of elementary school because he was “addled,” Edison became both an avid reader and writer. He wrote (and published) a mobile newspaper as a teenager, wrote technical articles, and started a textbook on telegraphy. But his most mysterious writing was a science fiction novel. Yes, complete with Amazons and Antarctic expeditions, and of course, strange ethereal electrical forces.

There is much more about Edison that most people would find surprising, and I cover them all in my new book coming out July 2016 from Fall River Press, Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World. I’ll share the cover design with you all soon.

And if you’re interested in Nikola Tesla, check out this comparison: Edison vs Tesla: Two Very Different Men of Invention.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for thirty-five years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (now in its 5th printing) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His book on Thomas Edison is due in Barnes and Noble stores in spring 2016.

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EDISON: The Inventor of the Modern World

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Thomas Edison

In July 2013 Fall River Press published my book, Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity. Now in July 2016 they will publish the follow up book, EDISON: The Inventor of the Modern World.

The writing was finished last September and since then the book has been in the production phase – cover design, layout, and tons and tons of photos. I should have an image of the cover in the near future. Meanwhile the book is off to the printer for the expected July release.

There is also the back material. Most books have a summary on the back cover and the following is the draft that went to the publisher. What do you think?

Thomas Edison is well known to everyone. Or is he? We know that Edison was one of the most productive and influential inventors of all time and helped usher in the modern world. But while it makes for an impressively heroic tale, the full story of Edison the man is much more complex. He played an unsurpassed role in improving telegraphy; inventing the telephone, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera; and developing a more reliable electric lighting system and lightbulb. Edison also less famously explored iron ore mining and milling, concrete building materials, and storage batteries for electric cars, and even launched the search for a domestic source of rubber for automobile and bicycle tires. Along the way he found time for two wives and six children, although more often than not he neglected them as he worked through the night on his latest distraction. He also befriended Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone, battled Nikola Tesla in the war of the currents, and became synonymous with the art of invention.

This impressively illustrated book takes us on a complete tour of this great man’s inventions, private life, personal struggles, and enduring legacy. Through fascinating anecdotes, illuminating stories, and many photographs, cartoons, and caricatures, this book brings to life one man’s amazing career and incalculable contributions to humanity.

Tesla and Edison were two very different men of invention, so it was a great honor to be able to examine both of their lives in successive books. If you haven’t already, check out my Tesla book now and then watch for the Edison book to come out in July.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for thirty-five years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (now in its 5th printing) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His book on Thomas Edison is due in Barnes and Noble stores in spring 2016.

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Science Traveler – Wrapping Up the Wrap Ups of 2015

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This morning I realized my watch was set for 1 hour behind the actual time. It took me a while to realize what had happened,* but it was a reflection on the amazingly busy/productive/exhausting/exhilarating year it has been. It’s time to wrap up the wrap ups.

David J. Kent drinking mateHere on Science Traveler I’ve recapped a year in the writer’s life. Two books written, a few articles for magazines and newsletters, and a ton of blog posts. I also summarized a year in science traveling that included everything from some major capitals of Europe to some alligator-infested National Parks to a prison on an island (no, not Alcatraz, the other one). I also cataloged my 2015 acquisitions of Abraham Lincoln books.

Near Cueva de las ManosOn Hot White Snow I summarized all the books I read in 2015 – all 96 of them…and I recapped what I can confidently say was a very good year.

On The Dake Page I reviewed the year in climate change, a year in which 2015 blew past 2014 as the hottest year in global temperatures on record. I also laid out the four things you need to know about the recent Paris climate agreement.

Science smartphoneThere was a lot more, so click on the blog names above and scroll down to see other articles of interest.

So what does 2016 hold for us all? Check back later for plans and predictions (and big changes to this website)!

Finally, thank you all for participating in this adventure with me. I appreciate your support, your loyalty, and your interest. I’m looking forward to providing more content in 2016 to give each and every one of you a reason to keep coming back.

Happy New Year!

*About the watch thing: I had set the watch back an hour for my trip to New Orleans, which is in the Central Time Zone. I never reset it. Since I work at home (when I’m not on the road), I generally don’t wear the watch at all, relying mostly on the clocks on my computer and smart phone. Only this morning as I sat in Panera did I notice the time was off. 🙂

David J. Kent has been a scientist for thirty-five years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (now in its 5th printing) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His book on Thomas Edison is due in Barnes and Noble stores in spring 2016.

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The Year in a Writer’s Life – 2015

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Hemingway's typewriterThe last few days of 2015 are bringing me somewhat of a breather from science traveling and writing and reading. It’s been a busy year in all respects. The writing scene has been especially productive.

Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World was the biggest project this year, though definitely not the only one. Following on the success of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (which enjoyed its 3rd, 4th, and 5th printings in 2015!), Fall River Press of Sterling Publishing asked me to write a follow up in the same style. So not only is Tesla still in Barnes and Noble stores, it will be joined in the summer of 2016 by Edison. Needless to say, writing the Edison book kept me busy writing a good part of the year.

But it didn’t stop there. I also wrote an e-book that looked at the surprisingly many connections between my two favorite historic people. Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate is published on Amazon and available for download to Kindle or the Kindle App on any smartphone or tablet. You can also download my earlier e-book: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time.

This year also saw a few articles. “Abraham Lincoln: The Majesty and the Math of Niagara Falls” was published in the Sept/Oct issue of The Lincolnian. In addition, the next issue will begin my new recurring column in which I offer reviews of two Lincoln-related books. One of the two will be on a new Lincoln book while the other will review a “Classic Lincoln” book, that is, a book that has been around for a very long time and perhaps forgotten or unknown.

To this you can add an article I wrote for the Smithsonian Civil War Studies.Org online newsletter, “And the War Ends,” plus an article for the CPRC Newsletter. The latest issue of the CPRC Newsletter also included an article about me and the SETAC award I won this year.

And let’s not forget the blogs. Over the course of the last year I’ve written around 250 posts combined for Science Traveler, Hot White Snow, and The Dake Page. That’s a lot of writing.

My opening sentence of this piece is not quite accurate. I’m not actually done writing for the year. I’ve been working diligently on my Lincoln book proposal and will be doing some last fine-tuning of it this week so I can send it to my agent immediately after New Years. While she’s reviewing it I’ll be continuing to write the sample chapters. The goal is to have the publishing contract in place as early in 2016 as possible so that I can be working on that book for a 2017(?) release.

So 2016 should be a very good writing year as well.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for thirty-five years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (now in its 5th printing) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His book on Thomas Edison is due in Barnes and Noble stores in spring 2016.

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Science Traveler

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Happy Holidays Science Traveler

David J. Kent has been a scientist for thirty-five years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (now in its 5th printing) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His book on Thomas Edison is due in Barnes and Noble stores in spring 2016.

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The Year in Science Traveling – 2015

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Science TravelerSomehow I managed not to travel anywhere in February, June, and August. But for the other nine months I had at least one out-of-town trip. It was a very good year in Science Traveling. I’ve finished traveling for the year so it’s time for a quick recap.

January: Everglades, Key West, and the Dry Tortugas. Besides seeing the prison cells that held the Lincoln assassination conspirators I discovered that Ernest Hemingway was a crazy cat lady. I also discovered the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach.

March: A relatively local trip to the eastern shore of Maryland in which I unexpectedly came upon skeleton road at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. I also checked in to the marine biology lab I once worked in, plus a wine tasting in St. Michaels.

April: Another semi-local trip for the annual CPRC scientific conference, this one a full-day affair at the Robinson Nature Center in Columbia, MD.

May: I started May in New England on a writer’s retreat in my old home town. I ended May in Scandinavia on a tour of Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, and Bergen (with stops on the fjords). I even came across a few surprises.

July: The 4th of July brought me back to my home town for the holiday, then a road trip up to Quebec City and Montreal. On the way back the route took us on a quest for used book stores in western Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. One of the highlights was Montmorency Falls.

September: A busy fall began with a trip to New York City, where I got up close with the Statue of Liberty, saw the top of the world from the Empire State Building, the bottom of the world in the new World Trade Center Memorial and Museum, and some aircraft carriers/submarines/space shuttles.

October: Ah, Paris in the spring, er, the fall. For once the weather cooperated and the Eiffel Tower was amazing. In two short days we squeezed in a lot of venues, including Musee d’Orsay and the Pompidou Centre, then took the train through the Chunnel to London. Unfortunately I spent most of my time in the latter city hopping around on one foot.

November: The morning after returning from London I was on a plane to Salt Lake City for the annual SETAC meeting, where I picked up the award for Outstanding Regional Chapter Member. Ten days after my return I was in Gettysburg for the annual Lincoln Forum conference. And then my parents visited me for 10 days. November was a very busy month.

December: December seems low-key given that the sole trip was a long weekend to New Orleans. Okay, technically that isn’t the last trip of the year as we likely will drive up to Amish country in Pennsylvania for the Christmas weekend, but that will actually feel like a nice break from a year of science traveling.

And it was, in fact, science traveling. Every trip had some connection to a book I’m researching or a future book in the plans. It’s amazing how much science (and Lincoln and Tesla and Edison) there is when you look for it. The July 4th trip, for example, included stops in two of Thomas Edison’s most iconic laboratories, and New Orleans has a plaque at Thomas Edison Place. Lincoln was everywhere (including New Orleans).

When I wasn’t science traveling I was writing a book, two books in fact. Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World is finished and will be in Barnes and Noble bookstores in 2016. I also published an e-book available on Amazon: Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. If that wasn’t enough to keep me busy I also have read 94 books this year (with two weeks to go), chaired a scientific committee, attended various local Abraham Lincoln dinners, lectures, and symposiums, and served as a Vice President in the Lincoln Group of DC.

Next year should be even busier!

David J. Kent has been a scientist for thirty-five years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (now in its 5th printing) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His book on Thomas Edison is due in Barnes and Noble stores in spring 2016.

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Thomas Edison the Railroad Butcher

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Young Thomas EdisonFrom a young age Thomas Edison showed that he was not like most other boys. Tossed out of school after a few weeks because his teachers thought he was “addled” and “dreamy,” Edison learned mostly on his own by devouring scientific books. He questioned everything. His father began to think young Tom was a bit dim-witted because he asked so many questions. The reverse was true; inquisitive throughout his life, Edison had a knack for remembering virtually everything he read.

When he wasn’t conducting chemical experiments in his parents basement (and getting a public whipping after burning down the family barn), Edison was hanging around the local rail yard listening to stories from the lumber gangs and memorizing the rough songs from the canal men. He liked the railroad life so much he became a butcher.

A news butcher that is; generally shortened to just news butch. At only 12 years old he was riding the 63 miles of the Grand Trunk Railway. Each day Edison would hop the 7 A.M. train for Detroit, not returning until around 9 P.M. that evening. All day long he would wander up and down the aisle of the train hawking newspapers and magazines, along with candy, fruit, and anything else he thought he could sell.

The news butch biz was so successful that Edison rapidly became an entrepreneur, setting up stores in town and hiring other boys to do the selling for a share of the profit while he continued to hawk newspapers on the train. Before long he started his own newspaper, becoming the first person ever to gather news and print it up right on the moving train.

The trains gave Edison access to another budding technology of the day – the telegraph. He would telegraph ahead with the headlines and have a swarm of customers waiting for the train to buy up all of his editions at ever-growing prices. Edison’s love affair with trains and telegraphs led to his first real job as a telegrapher during the Civil War, and improvements to telegraphy were his first inventions as a young man out on his own when he was only 22 years old.

Thomas Edison

Edison led a fascinating life, in both the good and bad meanings of that term. He built a reputation as an innovator, invented the “invention factory,” and tussled with the likes of Alexander Graham Bell and Nikola Tesla. Edison didn’t always win those battles, and some would say he didn’t always play fair, but he remains today one of the best known and revered inventors of all time.

There is much more on Edison’s new butch days – and all his other best known and little known inventions – in my new book Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World due out in 2016 from Fall River Press. Check back here for updates and a first glimpse of the new cover as soon as it happens.

David J. Kent has been a scientist for thirty-five years, is an avid science traveler, and an independent Abraham Lincoln historian. He is the author of Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity (now in its 5th printing) and two e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate. His book on Thomas Edison is due in Barnes and Noble stores in spring 2016.

Follow me by subscribing by email on the home page.  And feel free to “Like” my Facebook author’s page and connect on LinkedIn.  Share with your friends using the buttons below. [Daily Post]