Edison as I know him, by Henry Ford, in collaboration with Samuel Crowther.

EDISON As I KNOW HIM

there could be nothing new and worth while that
did not run by electricity! It was to be the universal power. Of course their expectation could
not be fully realized because electricity is not a
prime mover.
It was wholly characteristic of Mr. Edison to
have the broader vision and to know that, while
the -uses of electrical power could be extended
almost indefinitely in some directions, there were
others in which it could be at the best only a
makeshift. Not the least among the many remarkable qualities of the Edison mind is its
ability constantly to maintain a perspective. He
never has any blind enthusiasms.
An inventor frequently wastes his time and
his money trying to extend his invention to uses
for which it is not at all suitable. Edison has
never done this. He rides no hobbies. He views
each problem that comes up as a thing of itself,
to be solved in exactly the right way. His approach is no more that of an electrician than
that of a chemist. His knowledge is so nearly
universal that he cannot be classed as an electrician or a chemist-in fact, Mr. Edison cannot
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