Martha+Barksdale　Feronia

Without question， our lives would be very different without the inventions of Thomas Edison. This prodigious1） creator changed our culture in countless ways with the seemingly miraculous devices that flooded out of his New Jersey laboratory. But while the Wizard of Menlo Park2） is remembered for his major inventions， such as the incandescent3） electric light and the phonograph4）， his tireless mind also came up with some ideas that aren't so well-known—and some that weren't welcomed by the public.

Electrographic Vote-recorder

Edison was a 22-year-old telegraph operator when he received his first patent for a machine he called the electrographic vote-recorder. He was one of several inventors at the time developing methods for legislative bodies， such as the U.S. Congress， to record their votes in a more timely fashion than the time-honored voice vote system.

In Edison's vote-recorder， a voting device was connected to the clerk's desk. At the desk， the names of the legislators were embedded5） in metal type in two columns—"yes" and "no". Legislators would move a switch on the device to point to either "yes" or "no"， sending an electric current to the device at the clerk's desk. After voting was completed， the clerk would place a chemically treated piece of paper on top of the metal type and run a metal roller over it. The current would cause the chemicals in the paper to dissolve on the side for which the vote should be recorded. "Yes" and "no" wheels kept track of the vote totals and tabulated6） the results.

A friend of Edison's， another telegraph operator named Dewitt Roberts， bought an interest7） in his machine for $100 and tried to sell it to Washington to no avail8）. Congress wanted no part of any device that would increase the speed of voting—decreasing the time for filibusters9） and political wheeling and dealing—so young Edison's vote-recorder was sent to the political graveyard.

Pneumatic10） Stencil Pen

Edison invented the ancestor of the tattoo gun—the pneumatic stencil pen. This electric pen， which Edison patented in 1876， used a rod tipped with a steel needle to perforate11） paper for printing purposes. It's important on its own as one of the first devices that could efficiently copy documents.

In 1891， tattoo artist Samuel O'Reilly was awarded the first patent for a tattoo machine—a device allegedly12） based on Edison's stencil pen. O'Reilly apparently produced only one of the machines and that was for his own personal use—there is no record of his marketing his device.endprint

Method of Preserving Fruit

Another Edison invention came about from the laboratory's work with glass vacuum13） tubes while developing the incandescent light bulb—a development， we should add， that is not solely Edison's. Many others were involved in the research and labor of the light bulb production—but Edison got the much-sought-after patents.

But getting back to our story. In 1881， Edison filed for a patent for a method to preserve fruits， vegetables， or other organic substances in a glass vessel. The vessel was filled with the items to be preserved， and then all the air was sucked from it with an air pump. The vessel tube was sealed with another piece of glass.

Concrete House

Not satisfied with having improved the average American's life with electric lights， movies， and phonographs， Edison decided in the early part of the 20th century to abolish city slums and get every working man's family into sturdy14）， fire-proof homes that could be built inexpensively on a mass scale. And what would those homes be made of？ Why， concrete， of course， using materials from the Edison Portland Cement company. Edison， recalling his own working-class upbringing15）， said he would take no profit if the venture succeeded.

Edison's plan was to pour the concrete into large， wooden molds the size and shape of a house， let it cure， remove the framework and—voila16）！ A concrete house， with decorative molding， plumbing17） pipes， even a bathtub， molded right in. Edison said these dwellings would sell for around $1200， about one-third the price of a regularly constructed house at the time.

But while Edison Portland Cement was used in a lot of structures around New York City during the building boom of the early 1900s， the concrete houses never caught on18）. The molds and equipment needed to make the homes required a huge financial investment that few builders were able to make. Image was another problem—not many families wanted the social stigma19） of moving to a house that was touted20） as getting people out of the slums. One other factor： some people thought the homes were ugly. While the company did build a few concrete houses around New Jersey—some still standing today—Edison's vision of concrete neighborhoods never took hold.

毫無疑問，如果沒有愛迪生的發(fā)明，我們的生活將會大不相同。這位天才發(fā)明家憑借從他在新澤西的實(shí)驗(yàn)室里涌出的看上去不可思議的那些發(fā)明，以無數(shù)種方式改變了我們的文明。雖然這位“門羅公園的巫師”因他的那些重大發(fā)明而被人們銘記在心，比如白熾燈和留聲機(jī)，但他那不知疲倦的大腦也想出過一些不那么出名和不受公眾歡迎的點(diǎn)子。

電子計(jì)票器

當(dāng)愛迪生憑借一種被他稱為 “電子計(jì)票器”的機(jī)器獲得生平第一項(xiàng)專利時(shí)，他還是一名22歲的電報(bào)員。當(dāng)時(shí)，他正和其他幾位發(fā)明人為一些立法機(jī)關(guān)（如美國國會）開發(fā)新的計(jì)票方法，用一種比由來已久的口頭表決系統(tǒng)更有效率的方法記錄投票情況。endprint

在愛迪生的計(jì)票器中，一個(gè)投票裝置被連接到計(jì)票員的桌子上。在這張桌子上有兩組圓柱，一組代表“是”，一組代表“否”，上面都嵌有用金屬字模制成的立法機(jī)關(guān)成員們的名字。立法機(jī)關(guān)成員們將通過扳動(dòng)該投票裝置上的轉(zhuǎn)換器來指向“是”或者“否”，同時(shí)向計(jì)票員桌子上的設(shè)備發(fā)送一股電流。投票結(jié)束后，計(jì)票員會把一張經(jīng)過化學(xué)處理的紙片放在金屬字模上，讓金屬滾輪滾過。那股電流會使應(yīng)該被記錄的投票對應(yīng)的紙上的化學(xué)物質(zhì)溶解。代表“是”和“否”的兩個(gè)滾輪會記錄所有投票，并將結(jié)果制成表格。

愛迪生的一位名叫德維特·羅伯茨的朋友也是一位電報(bào)員，他花100美元買下了愛迪生這種機(jī)器的一份股權(quán)，還試圖把電子計(jì)票器賣給華盛頓政府，卻沒有成功。國會一點(diǎn)都不想要任何能提高投票速度的東西，因?yàn)檫@會縮短冗長發(fā)言和耍弄政治手段的時(shí)間，所以年輕的愛迪生的這款電子計(jì)票器被送進(jìn)了政治的墳?zāi)埂?/p>

氣動(dòng)鐵筆

愛迪生發(fā)明了紋身槍的始祖——?dú)鈩?dòng)鐵筆，后于1876年獲得這款電子筆的專利。這種筆的筆桿尖端裝有一個(gè)鋼針，可以在紙上打孔，從而實(shí)現(xiàn)印刷的目的。作為率先實(shí)現(xiàn)高效拷貝文件的設(shè)備之一，這項(xiàng)發(fā)明本身意義重大。

1891年，紋身藝術(shù)家薩繆爾·奧賴?yán)@得第一項(xiàng)紋身機(jī)專利——據(jù)說，這種設(shè)備正是基于愛迪生的鐵筆設(shè)計(jì)的。但是很顯然，奧利雷只生產(chǎn)了一臺紋身機(jī)且僅供他個(gè)人使用，因?yàn)闆]有任何關(guān)于在市場大規(guī)模出售此種設(shè)備的記錄。

水果保存法

發(fā)明白熾燈期間，愛迪生的另一項(xiàng)發(fā)明玻璃真空管也在實(shí)驗(yàn)室的工作中隨之出現(xiàn)了。我們需要順帶說明一下，電燈泡的發(fā)明可不是愛迪生一個(gè)人的功勞，其他許多人都參與了這項(xiàng)研究，為電燈泡的發(fā)明付出了努力。但是，愛迪生獲得了這些搶手的專利權(quán)。

不過還是要回到我們的話題。1881年，愛迪生為一種在玻璃容器里保存水果、蔬菜和其他有機(jī)物質(zhì)的方法申請了專利。他將這種容器裝滿要保存的東西，然后用一個(gè)氣泵抽走里面所有的空氣，再用另外一塊玻璃將這個(gè)容器密封。

混凝土房子

愛迪生業(yè)已用電燈、電影和留聲機(jī)改善了美國民眾的生活，但他并不滿足于此，他下定決心要在20世紀(jì)初期廢除貧民窟，讓每一個(gè)工薪家庭都能住進(jìn)堅(jiān)固、耐火、成本低廉又可以大規(guī)模建造的房子。那這樣的房子將用什么來建造呢？哎呀，當(dāng)然是用混凝土啦，這是由愛迪生波特蘭水泥公司生產(chǎn)的材料。愛迪生記得自己的工薪階層出身，他說如果這個(gè)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)嘗試成功，他不會從中牟利。

愛迪生的計(jì)劃是把混凝土倒進(jìn)尺寸和形狀都和房子一樣的大型木制模具中，然后讓其凝固，最后再移走模具——你瞧！一座混凝土房子就成型了，裝飾嵌線、水暖管道甚至浴缸都已經(jīng)嵌在里面了。愛迪生說這些房子會賣大約1200美元，這價(jià)格大約是當(dāng)時(shí)用常規(guī)方法建造的房屋的三分之一。

盡管在20世紀(jì)初期的建設(shè)繁榮時(shí)期，愛迪生波特蘭牌水泥被紐約市周邊的大量建筑工程所使用，但是這種混凝土房屋從沒流行起來。建造房屋的模具和設(shè)備需要大量資金投入，沒有幾個(gè)建筑商可以承受。個(gè)人臉面也是一個(gè)問題，沒有多少家庭想要搬進(jìn)為使人搬出貧民窟而兜售的房子而在社會上丟臉。還有另外一個(gè)原因，有些人覺得這些房子難看。盡管這家公司確實(shí)在新澤西周邊建造了幾座混凝土房子（有的至今還存在），但愛迪生建造混凝土社區(qū)的理想從未能實(shí)現(xiàn)。endprint