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

EDISON As I KNOW HIM

Sometimes he makes the tests himself but
usually he states what he wants on a sheet of
yellow paper in his own handwriting and sends it
on to an assistant. The assistants record in notebooks the results of each of their tests and these
books are turned in to Mr. Edison each evening.
The notes mean more to Mr. Edison than to anyone else, for he knows exactly what he is after
and the assistant does not always know.
If the experiments do not turn out as he expects, he writes further notes and suggestions;
if the experiments show that they are not worth
continuing, then Mr. Edison takes another line.
He is always in control. I have many of the notebooks and penciled note sheets and some day
these will make a whole study in themselves, for
they survey a great section of human knowledge
and ought to be compiled for the use of future
generations. For the present they are being placed
where they can be used again by young men.
Mr. Edison almost never gives verbal instructions because he finds it easier and quicker to
write or to draw than to talk and he writes by
hand instead of dictating because he can write
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