Thomas Edison: Great Inventor

His teacher said he was not a good student. The teacher complained that Thomas Edison could not sit still, so his mother taught him at home. Even when Thomas Edison was older and well-known as a scientist and an inventor, other scientists criticized his ideas and methods.

But Thomas Edison never let others opinions hold him back. He had his own kind of genius—his own way of thinking. He could imagine something that had not yet been invented, such as the light bulb or the motion picture, and figure out how to make it work.

When he started his extraordinary career as an inventor, people read by candlelight at home and no one had even heard of recorded music. By the early twentieth century, he had revolutionized the way Americans and people all over the world illuminated their homes and businesses and enjoyed their leisure time.