Thomas Edison is arguably the most prolific inventor in all of history, with 1,093 patents to his name. At one point Edison promised to turn out a minor invention every 10 days and a big thing every six months or so.

He largely made good on his promise. Edison is responsible for inventing the practical incandescent light bulb, phonograph, motion picture camera, cement making technology, batteries, and the electric power generation system. While Edison purchased and even stole some of these patents, nearly 100 percent of them were tied to commercial success and quickly influenced American technological life.

Did he accomplish this by brilliance, hard work, or stealing the inventions of better scientists like Nikola Tesla? A little bit of all of these.

Learn more about his life by getting my new book The Most Productive People in History by clicking here.

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