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Thomas Edison Did Not Invent The Light Bulb.

    Thomas Edison shouldn't be credited as the inventor of the light bulb! The light bulb was around for a long time before Edison started working on it. How it says in the article: "Ernest Freeberg shows that the light bulb reflected the work of many inventors, rather than Edison’s lone genius." At this point I can say that Thomas Edison stole—ideas from other inventors who were also working on an incandescent bulb.

  Two Canadians, Henry Woodward and Matthew Evans, successfully produced and patented an electric filament lamp before Edison had seriously turned his mind to electric lighting. Woodward and Evans endeavoured to refine and commercialize their light bulb with little success, eventually succumbing to a lack of funding and selling their patent rights to Edison in 1879 for US$5,000 (or about $100,000 in today’s dollars). With access to the necessary funding, Edison was able to develop an improved product and promote it. Demand for electric lighting grew rapidly. In 1885 an estimated 300,000 electric lamps were sold in the United States, all with carbon filaments. In Canada, by 1900 electric lights were slowly making their way into Toronto households. Summary by: Richard Murphy.

    Eventually, Edison would hire Princeton University physicist Francis Upton to his team at the lab in Menlo Park. By the end of 1880, the team was using long, bamboo burners called filaments, which could burn for up to 600 hours. This would help create Edison’s vision of lighting an entire neighborhood, or even a city. By 1882, he had created the Edison Electrical Light Company, which provided electric light to New York City.  

    Yes, it was T. Edison who perfected the device and Edison did improve on the existing idea. He was convinced he could develop the first practical incandescent lighting system, and–with a team of inventors and staff–he set out to do just that. In my opinion, it doesn't matter who perfected the light bulb. Yes, T. Edison did a great job on perfecting the light bulb but it was not him who actually created the light bulb. He bought this idea from another person! I think Thomas Edison should stop getting credits for inventing the light bulb and it should be considered as he stole someones idea.

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