爱迪生是位举世闻名的美国电学家和发明家，他除了在留声机、电灯、电话、电报、电影等方面的发明和贡献以外，在矿业、建筑业、化工等领域也有不少著名的创造和真知灼见。爱迪生一生共有约两千项创造发明，为人类的文明和进步作出了巨大的贡献。
About Edison
关于爱迪生
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor, scientist, and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed “The Wizard of Menlo Park” (now Edison, New Jersey) by a newspaper reporter, he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large teamwork to the process of invention, and therefore is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory.
Edison is the third most prolific inventor in history, holding 1,093 US patents in his name, as well as many patents in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. He is credited with numerous inventions that contributed to mass communication and, in particular, telecommunications. These included a stock ticker, a mechanical vote recorder, a battery for an electric car, electrical power, recorded music and motion pictures. His advanced work in these fields was an outgrowth of his early career as a telegraph operator. Edison originated the concept and implementation of electric-power generation and distribution to homes, businesses, and factories-a crucial development in the modern industrialized world. His first power station was on Manhattan Island, New York.
爱迪生是举世闻名的美国电学家、科学家和发明家，被誉为“世界发明大王”。爱迪生同时也是一位伟大的企业家，1879年，爱迪生创办“爱迪生电力照明公司”，1880年，白炽灯上市销售，1890年，爱迪生已经将其各种业务组建成为爱迪生通用电器公司。1891年，爱迪生的细灯丝、高真空白炽灯泡获得专利。1892年，汤姆·休斯顿公司与爱迪生电力照明公司合并成立了通用电气公司，开始了通用电气在电器领域长达一个世纪的统治地位。爱迪生同时被誉为“光明之父”“现实中的普罗米修斯”“发明大王”，他拥有白炽灯、留声机、碳粒电话筒、电影放映机等一千多项发明专利权。
Key words & Sentences
关键词句全知道
Listen to the story about Edison.
听一听关于爱迪生的故事。
Thomas Edison was a man of few words.
托马斯·爱迪生是个沉默寡言的人。
Edison contributed much to the progress of man.
爱迪生对人类的进步做出了巨大的贡献。
Edison had a great aptitude for inventing things.
爱迪生具有发明创造的卓越才能。
You know something about Edison, don't you?
你知道有关托马斯·爱迪生的事吗？
This discovery was patented as the “Edison effect”.
这个发现以“爱迪生效应”获得发明专利。
Thomas Edison was a great scientist and an inventor.
托马斯·爱迪生是一个伟大的科学家和发明家。
Edison invented any number of things during his life.
爱迪生一生中发明了许多东西。
Young Edison had a strong aspiration to be an inventor.
年幼的爱迪生就渴望成为一名发明家。
The young man is very clever; he may be another Edison.
这个年轻人很聪明，他可能成为又一个爱迪生。
But mostly Edison was stymied about how to meter electricity.
困扰爱迪生的主要是如何计量电流的问题。
Name some of Thomas Edison's contributions to science.
请列举一些托马斯·爱迪生对科学的贡献。
I'm alone in Thomas Edison's office in West Orange, New Jersey.
我独自站在新泽西州西奥兰治市托马斯·爱迪生的办公室里。
Few people knew that Edison worked very hard for every invention.
只有少数的人知道爱迪生为每个发明付出了多大努力。
When he told this to Edison's mother, she took her son out of school.
当他把这些告诉给爱迪生的妈妈后，她把儿子从学校领走了。
If it weren't for Edison, we'd all be watching TV by candle light.
如果没有爱迪生的话，我们就只能点着蜡烛看电视了。
Great men have often risen from poverty–Lincoln and Edison, for example.
大人物常常出身贫寒，例如林肯和爱迪生。
It all began in 1877 when Thomas Edison made the first recording of a human voice.
一切始于1877年，这一年托马斯·爱迪生第一次录下了人的声音。
Thomas Edison was awarded more patents on inventions than any other American.
托马斯·爱迪生拥有的发明专利比其他任何一个美国人都多。
The incandescent lamp we use in daily life was invented by Edison.
我们日常生活中用的白炽灯是爱迪生发明的。
Thomas Edison said he liked people who had ideas.
托马斯·爱迪生说过他喜欢有思想的人。
So much of what we take for granted in our daily lives is traceable back to Edison and his genius.
在我们的日常生活中我们已经习以为常的许多东西，都可以追溯到爱迪生和他的天才。
You're listening to one of Edison's first phonographs playing The Whistler and His Dog.
你现在听到的是爱迪生第一批唱机之一播送的乐曲，曲名是《吹口哨的人和他的狗》。
There is no one on the planet who does that better than Steve Jobs, really the Thomas Edison of our time.
世上没有比史蒂夫·乔布斯做得更好了，他是我们这个时代的托马斯·爱迪生。
So at the peak of his career Edison diverted his attention away from designing electrical devices to focus on the electrical delivery network itself.
所以爱迪生在事业的顶峰时期，转移了对设计电子设备的注意力，开始关注电力输送网络本身。
In 2001 Gorlov won the Edison patent award for his invention.
2001年，佐罗夫因这个发明而获得了爱迪生专利奖。
Let's Talk！
开始交流吧！
Mike: What's going on?
麦克：发生什么事了？
Daisy: The incandescent lamp is broken.
黛西：白炽灯坏了。
Mike: I can't see anything.
麦克：我什么都看不到了。
Daisy: Let's light the candles; I'll buy a new one tomorrow.
黛西：我们把蜡烛点起来，我明天去买个新的。
Mike: I'm really thankful for Edison now.
麦克：我现在非常感激爱迪生。
Daisy: Yes, it's him that gives us light.
黛西：是的，是他给我们带来了光亮。
Mike: The incandescent lamp seems very simple.
麦克：这个白炽灯看起来很简单。
Daisy: But he has failed hundreds of times in the course of inventing it.
黛西：但他发明它的过程中失败的上百次。
Mike: I know, he is very patient.
麦克：我知道，他非常有耐心。
Daisy: Failure is the mother of success.
黛西：失败是成功之母。
Mike: But I always fail in my exam.
麦克：但我总是在考试中失败。
Daisy: That only means you do not study hard.
黛西：那只能说你学习不努力。
Mike: In my case, failure is not mother of success.
麦克：像我这种情况，失败并不是成功之母。