Thomas Edison Blew It

To err is human, no matter how impressive the human

From The New York Times, March 18th, 1947, I give you this curious little story:

Why is this obscure story worth a look?

First, it teaches skepticism. The Internet is positively littered with people quoting the great Thomas Alva Edison declaring that some day we would have atomic, solar, and tidal power. These “inspirational” quotations don’t cite a source. And I haven’t been able to find anything in Edison biographies about his views on atomic power, much less solar and tidal power. So why would people repeat something that isn’t verified? Because it is plausible. And it says what they want it to say.

“Quotations on the Internet are hugely unreliable. Without verification, they’re worse than useless.” — Abraham Lincoln, 1859

But the other reason for noting Edison’s flub is a little more profound.

This is Thomas Alva Edison we’re talking about. Polymath. Genius. Shaper of the modern world. And he was dead wrong about a fundamentally important matter.

It’s a salutary reminder that even the greatest of our flawed species are, like the rest of us, flawed.

Of course it’s also possible that I simply haven’t found the source for Edison’s quotation, and/or that paper in which he dismissed atomic energy is fake or otherwise doesn’t reflect his views. As a flawed human myself, I always welcome corrections. (Or at least try to.)