Elihu Thomson Talks About Discovering an Interest in Engineering 1932

Excerpt: rare sound film interview with the great electrical engineer Elihu Thomson. E.W. Rice Jr. of GE interviews him and asks about his discovery of electricity as a boy. Elihu Thomson read a book on magician's tricks, and loved the electrical chapter. He built his first electrical experiment in a wine bottle. His father didn't care much for it until he shocked his father with a home-made battery, after that he took electricity seriously. Thomson invented the 3 phase AC generator in the 1870s at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. He had over 700 patents in his life time. That is 2nd only to Thomas Edison. He is in the top three of the most important pioneers of electricity. At the end they mention Joseph Henry, who preceded Edison, and made this era's inventions possible. www.EdisonTechCenter.org video by the Edison Tech Center

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