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Edison on Innovation: 102 Lessons in Creativity for Business and Beyond
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Edison on Innovation: 102 Lessons in Creativity for Business and Beyond

by Alan Axelrod
February 2008
Intermediate to advanced content levelIntermediate to advanced
192 pages
4h 1m
English
Jossey-Bass
Content preview from Edison on Innovation: 102 Lessons in Creativity for Business and Beyond

9.1. Lesson 79: Never Neglect Logistics

For Edison, there were no purely theoretical, technical, or creative problems. Invention was a continuous process, a spectrum, and no phase of invention could be walled off from another. Always working with an eye toward commercialization, he never neglected the logistical dimension of invention. When he concluded that platinum was one of the more technically promising materials for light bulb filaments, he did not close his eyes to the expense of the metal—he immediately set about searching for plentiful sources of it. Even as he searched, he continued to look for cheaper alternatives to platinum—eventually hitting on lampblack, or carbon, which could be produced cheaply and in great plenty.

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9780787994594Purchase book