Edison was recognized as a genius
and, yes, he was a virtuoso surfer as
well. Contrary to the popular story, he
did not invent the light bulb. A long
search for electric lighting had begun
in the early 1800s. He joined the
search in the 1870s because he saw
how to build an electrical distribution
system that would power lamps in
homes and shops. He performed hundreds
of experiments until he found
a lamp design that would last long
enough to be useful. He announced
his incandescent lamp in 1879. A year
later, he patented an electrical distribution
system and got one operating
in 1882 on Hudson Street in New York
City. He said lamps were useless without
electricity and he pledged to make
electricity so cheap that only the rich
would burn candles. He undertook
the lamp experiments only when he
believed that by the time he found
a robust lamp he would have a solution
for cheap electrical distribution.
He timed his entry onto the waves of
those possibilities and rode them to a
convergence. He set off an avalanche
of people moving to use electric rather
than gas lighting.