Role of Thomas Edison in Essay

He discovered that a filament carbonized thread was crucial to a long-lasting light bulb. After his electric company of New York was incorporated in late 1880, Edison concentrated on developing and installing a central generating system. The central generating system consisted of central power plants with generators known as dynamos and the light bulbs among others. He then received over two hundred patents between 1879 and 1882 since he resolved several problems in producing, distributing, and metering of electric current ("Electricity," n.d.). In addition to this, Edison created the most basic equipment for generating, distributing, and metering of electricity i.e. sockets, meters, fuses, switches, and fixtures.

He was a proponent of underground electric mains and services that would be similar to the model for gas and water distribution. Edison created the largest ever dynamos that weighed around 27 tons and an output of 100 kilowatts that could power over 1,100 lights. The large dynamos were fueled by a steam engine that obtained steam from boilers situated in another section of the power plant.The first electric illuminating system invented by Thomas Edison went into operation in September 1882. This served as a significant invention in electricity because it provided a model that set the precedence for electrification in towns and cities across the United States.

Based on this analysis, Thomas Edison contribution to electricity is through inventing the incandescent light bulb and developing a model for generating, distributing, and metering of electricity. Currently, Con Edison Company, which was established by Thomas Alva Edison, operates one of the most complex and largest electrical power systems across the globe and serves over 3 million customers.

References:

"Electricity." (n.d.). A Brief History of Con Edison. Retrieved May 16, 2013, from http://www.coned.com/history/electricity.asp

"The Life of Thomas a. Edison." (n.d.). American Memory. Retrieved from the Library of Congress website: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edbio.html.....