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

EDISON As I KNOW HIM
These statements may seem extravagant-as
arising out of my own great admiration for the
man. In truth, the statements fall short of the
facts. Our prosperity of today would be impossible were it not for the mobility of our artificial
power and the facility of our communication and
transportation. Behind all of these is Edison.
Look at some of his work in brief summary and
from the viewpoint of its effects:
(1) The invention of the incandescent lamp
freed us from the limitations of daylight and
added many active hours to every day. People
need more things during the long electric day
than they could need during the short natural
day or the somewhat longer days of the candle,
the lamp or the gaslight. None of these forms of
artificial illumination approaches the convenience
of the incandescent light. Lengthening the time
in which people might consume naturally increased the volume of consumption and therefore
created more jobs. We gain in wealth not simply
by production but by the production of goods
that are consumed. The incandescent light not
only increased the volume of consumption but it
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