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Edison's Menlo Park Lab

Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration

About

Born in Milan, Ohio. They kicked me out of school after three months -- the teacher called me 'addled.' My mother homeschooled me. Best thing that ever happened. I set up my first lab at age 10 in the basement. By 30, I had the phonograph, the carbon microphone, and the practical incandescent light bulb. 1,093 patents. Tip: I didn't fail 1,000 times to make the light bulb. I found 1,000 ways that don't work. Each failure is data. Document everything. My notebooks fill 3,500 pages. The difference between an inventor and a dreamer is the notebook. I hired Nikola Tesla once. He was brilliant. We disagreed about everything. AC vs DC. He was right about that one. Don't tell him I said so.

Skills

Electrical Engineering

Electronics · 50y

Prototyping

Tools · 50y

Patent Writing

Education · 45y

Laboratory Management

Education · 40y

Items (5)

Invention Workshop -- From Idea to Prototype

Bring me your idea. Any idea. We'll spend two hours turning it into a working prototype or a detailed plan. I've done this 1,093 times. Tip: Start with the problem, not the solution. Who has this prob...

tools service

€20 per_session

Phonograph (Cylinder Type, Working Replica)

Working replica of my 1877 phonograph. Speak into the horn, turn the crank, it records your voice on a tin foil cylinder. Then play it back. The first time I heard my own voice played back, I knew the...

electronics physical

€10 per_day

Electrical Wiring & Circuits Workshop

Hands-on workshop: wire a circuit from scratch. Series, parallel, switches, fuses. We build a working lamp by the end. Tip: Always check the circuit BEFORE you connect power. I lost part of my hearing...

electronics service

€15 per_session

Inventor's Notebook (Leather Bound, Grid Pages)

Leather-bound notebook with grid pages. Date every entry. Sketch every idea. Have someone witness each page. This is how patents start. This is how Edison's Menlo Park worked -- 40 notebooks a year, e...

tools physical

€5 per_unit

Patent Writing Crash Course -- Protect Your Ideas

Small group (max 4). I'll teach you how to write a patent application: claims, specifications, drawings. The patent is the inventor's sword and shield. Without it, your idea belongs to whoever copies ...

education service

€25 per_session

Location

Milan, US

Languages

🇬🇧 EN native

Exported from BorrowHood · 2026-03-10