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| Thomas Alva Edison |
Two interesting incidents of Thomas Alva Edison's amnesia.
The world's greatest scientists have a flaw. Scientists who
become overwhelmed with too much research are prone to forgetfulness. Once
Albert Einstein was travelling on a train and when the ticket inspector asked
him what his name was, he forgot his name. After thinking about it, he said his
name.
Amnesia is a big problem for such great scientists. Thomas
Alva Edison suffered from amnesia. His amnesia has created many interesting
incidents. Boston was a city that nurtured Edison's knowledge because there was
a huge library in that city. There were millions of books in that library and
Edison often visited that library and read many books.
He liked some of Michael Faraday's books, an electrical
scientist. During Edison's time in Boston City, Edison worked part-time to
raise money for his research. He personally installed telegraph equipment in
the homes of telegraph applicants. The Boston Academy, who knew about Edison's
intelligence, wanted to have Edison speak at their academy, so they invited
Edison to speak at the academy. Edison's amnesia became so engrossed in
research that Edison agreed to speak at the Boston Academy but forgot about it.
On the day he was supposed to speak, he was busy with
telegraph work in a house. A large crowd had gathered but Edison, who was
supposed to speak, did not come. Edison's friend came to find him.
Edison was building the telegraph wire upstairs in that house
and his friend standing below informed him that you should come to speak at the
Boston Academy. It was then that Edison remembered and immediately left for the
academy while working dress.
People were a little surprised to see Edison's dishevelled
clothes, dust on his head, and dirt on his face. They sat wondering what he was
going to say. At that meeting, Edison spoke in great detail about the electric
telegraph and left everyone in the audience mesmerized with his knowledge.
This incident is a
perfect example of how knowledge can cover all other defects. People didn't
value Edison's dishevelled clothes or his dirty looks, they valued Edison's
knowledge. Edison invented a new telegraph system while in Boston. He
successfully designed a telegraph device to send and receive messages over a
single wire.
This is not one but many incidents have happened due to
memory loss. Once Edison received a letter from the city council to pay the tax
immediately. The next day, Edison was waiting in a long line to pay the tax.
After a long time, Edison began to think about his research.
Standing in line, Edison was slowly advanced. It was Edison's
turn to pay the tax, and the tax collector looked at Edison and asked his name.
To which Edison replied 'I don't know'. Edison's answer made the people there
look at him strangely. Tax collector, why did you come here to pay taxes? He
asked. Edison replied 'No'. The tax collector said ‘Why are you standing here?’ and
the officer sent Edison without paying the tax? He immediately left and started
researching the research he was thinking about in his research lab.