1. Einstein

Story 1: Son and Dad

One day, Edward asked his father Einstein.

"Dad, why are you so famous?"

Einstein laughed, took the big rubber ball that the child was playing with, and said meaningfully:

"Look, there is a blind beetle crawling on this ball. He doesn't know that the road he is walking on is crooked. Fortunately, dad knows."

Story 2: Special Bookmark

Einstein once used a $1,500 check as a bookmark and lost the book. Another story is that he forgot to wear his glasses in a restaurant. He asked the waiter to read the menu, but the waiter said aggrievedly: "Sir, I am not uneducated."

After reading Ein After reading Stan's biography, I realized that the so-called great men were not great at the beginning. The reason why they became great men was because they focused on one thing, and no matter how many difficulties there were, they could not stop their scientific exploration. Einstein famously said: I have no special talents, I just like to get to the bottom of things. The celebrity Einstein is so humble, what else do we ordinary people have to be proud of?

2. Where the "magic" lies

One morning in the autumn of 1877, Edison came from a place called Merlot in the United States to the editorial office of a magazine in New York. . He carefully held a

strange little thing. This little thing has a long metal bar with a larger wheel on one end and a small handle on the other. Edison turned the cradle, then

wrapped a small piece of tinfoil around the cylinder, put a small needle on it, and sang a baby hypnotic song to the cylinder. After the movement was completed, the machine started turning again, and it sang the hypnotic song again word for word. To describe the first impressions of those who were present at the time, it is not enough to say astonishment. People were so happy that everyone in the editorial department loudly announced to each other that Edison had brought a talking monster. In a short period of time, reporters from various newspapers in the city came like a tide, all vying to have a look at this most novel machine in the world. The newspaper offices were packed to the rafters for a while. Once the news of this invention spread, it aroused rapid and huge enthusiasm in the society at that time for several months. The railway runs a special train to visit.

Many people began not to believe this invention and suspected that he had hidden something that could talk in it to deceive people. There was a church bishop who recited a string of technical nouns in the Bible to the radio at top speed. When these nouns were repeated word for word from the machine, they believed that this thing had no meaning. A little false.

This is what happened when the world's first gramophone was invented. In addition to admiration, people called the inventor Edison a "demon". In fact, the nickname "Demon" did not come from the invention of the phonograph, but accompanied him throughout his life. Because he has so many inventions and creations. Electric lights, telephones, movies, telegraph machines, generators, batteries, typewriters, magnetite separators, pressure gauges, etc. are all his inventions. According to incomplete statistics, from 1869, when he invented the first automatic ticket counting machine, to 1910, he received 1,328 kinds of votes per day. Invention patent rights, approximately during this period, he had an invention every eleven days. Because of this, it is natural for him to be called a "demon".

But where does the real magic power of this "demon" character come from? He himself said this: "One point of inspiration is ninety-nine points of blood and sweat." His tenacious perseverance and amazing diligence are exactly where his real "magic" lies.

Origined as a teenager

Thomas Edison was born in 1847 in Ottawa, USA. He only attended primary school for three months. The school teacher called him "stupid", and his relatives and friends also called him that.

But his mother didn't believe this and became his teacher herself, guiding him to read some books. Before he was twelve years old, he had read many difficult books, and his father also guided him to study Newton's principles. The education and influence of his family enabled him to develop a diligent spirit and amazing perseverance from an early age.

Edison loved science. When he was very young, he stored hundreds of bottles for various experiments and built a small laboratory in the cellar of his home. He spent all his frugal money on chemical supplies and chemical equipment. But this money alone could not meet the needs of the experiment, so he went to work as a newsboy on the train. He boarded the train early in the morning every day and returned home after nine o'clock in the evening. He often couldn't rest until late at night after completing experiments. Later, he found that there was an unused smoking room in the luggage compartment on the train, so he moved the test objects from the cellar at home to it and insisted on doing chemical experiments. Here, he also learned to use a printing press displayed here, and was able to use telegraph numbers to record local news and run a newspaper. The newspaper was very popular and sold well. He was only twelve years old at this time.

One day, the train shook, the luggage slipped, and one of the phosphorus rods he was experimenting with fell to the ground. The carriage immediately caught fire. The fire was extinguished by people who rushed to the scene, but the commander hit his ears and left him disabled for life. The captain also kicked everything in his "four-wheel laboratory" and "traveling printing room" under the vehicle.

Difficulties and setbacks did not affect Edison's determination to conduct scientific experiments, and he built a laboratory at home. Being beaten with electricity and having your clothes burned were common occurrences during experiments. Once, his face was burned to the point of disfigurement with nitric acid. Even so, he never loses heart. Edison's earliest efforts greatly contributed to his later inventions. However,

Like other great inventors, the road Edison traveled was not smooth. He worked as a night telegraph boy. Spend a lot of energy at book stalls and libraries. But due to being unemployed several times, he finally had to go to New York to join his friends.

Edison came to New York despite all the hardships. At this time, he didn't even have a small amount of money in his pocket. He was so hungry that he had to ask for some tea. This was his first meal after arriving in New York. Here, it took him a long time to find friends, but his friends were also unemployed. Edison, who was suffering from hunger and disease, had a poor appearance, ragged clothes, and was looked down upon by others. Later, he was allowed to stay overnight in a battery room. There happened to be a communication machine indoors to publish market prices. On the morning of the third day after his arrival, the machine broke down. Due to his careful study, he quickly helped others repair the machine. After being left behind, I found a job. From then on, he worked hard and cooperated with others to reform, and

came to prominence by developing market-priced communication machines. Soon, he opened a small factory to produce this kind of communication machine, and gradually embarked on the path of scientific research.

Solid steps

Electric light is no longer surprising today. But before 1880, electric light only had its prototype, and this was the most popular arc lamp at that time. This kind of lamp is to connect two pieces of charcoal to the ends of the two poles of the battery. After the electricity is turned on, the two poles are touched, and then separated, and a flame immediately breaks out between the two poles. Because the two carbon poles are horizontal and hot air rises in the middle, the flame between the two poles is slightly bent upward like a bow or arc, so it is called an arc lamp. This kind of lamp has many shortcomings: the carbon strips need to be constantly replaced; the sound is loud; the light effect is small and it is easy to hurt the eyesight. Dirty air; another big drawback is that one return current can only light one arc lamp. Some famous scientists at that time, including the inventor of the arc lamp, praised this lamp very much. However, Edison began experiments to reform the arc lamp in 1877, proposing to divide the current (that is, one outlet current lights many lamps) and change the arc lamp into a white light lamp. This test needs to be done satisfactorily. It is necessary to find a substance that can burn to white heat to make a filament. This filament must withstand burning at a temperature of 2,000 degrees for 1,000 hours or more. At the same time, it should be simple to use, able to withstand the bumps and bumps of daily use, and the price should be low. The turning on and off of one lamp should not affect the turning on and off of any other lamp.

Maintain the relative independence of each lamp. . This was a very bold idea at the time and required great efforts to explore and test. Some scientists laughed at him as a fool and mocked him as "a dreamer and a braggart." Some scholars used mathematics to prove that his research was impossible to succeed. But Edison always carried out experiments with confidence. In order to choose this material for making lamp filaments, Edison first experimented with carbonized substances. After failure, he experimented with platinum and iridium high-melting point alloys for filaments. He also experimented with high-quality ores and ore seedlings. ***One thousand six hundred

different experiments, all of which failed. But at this time, he and his assistants had made great progress and knew that the incandescent filament must be sealed in a highly vacuumed glass ball (i.e., the light bulb) to prevent it from melting easily. In this way, his experiments returned to carbon filaments. He worked day and night with all his energy on carbonization, and there were more than 6,000 carbonization experiments on plants alone. He has more than 200 experimental notebooks, totaling more than 40,000 pages, which took three years to complete. He works eighteen or nineteen hours a day. At three or four o'clock every morning, he would sleep under the experimental table with two or three books on his head. Sometimes he slept on the stool three or four times a day, for just half an hour each time.

Wake up and work energetically again.

In the first half of 1880, Edison's incandescent lamp experiment still had no results. One day, he tore a piece of bamboo silk tied to the edge of a banana fan in the laboratory into thin filaments, and then carbonized it to make a filament. The result this time was better than all the previous experiments. Excellent, this is the first incandescent electric lamp invented by Edison-the bamboo filament electric lamp. This kind of bamboo filament

Electric lamps continued for many years. It was not replaced until the invention of tungsten filament in 1908. The alkaline storage battery that Edison began to develop after this was very difficult, and his research spirit was even more astonishing. This kind of battery is used to provide motive power.

He and a selected assistant studied painstakingly for nearly ten years and experienced many hardships and failures. One moment he thought he had reached his destination, but the next moment he knew he was wrong. But Edison never wavered and started over. After about 50,000 tests

and more than 150 test notes written down, the goal was achieved.

No secret

Edison was obsessed with scientific research, but he never paid attention to his own private affairs. Suffice it to say, he was seventy-three years old. He had never slept well before; even in his later years, he still worked no less than sixteen to eighteen hours a day. As soon as he started experimenting, he forgot to rest. Occasionally, he would take a short break when he was really tired and couldn't hold on. Therefore, he also liked people who had the same energy as him to be his assistants. On this day, a man who claimed to be sleepless came to him and asked for a job. Edison was very interested and considered this man to be his ideal assistant. So I started working with this "sleepless man". However, after working continuously for sixty hours, the sleepless man could no longer stand it

and fell asleep. Even the machine broke down and made a huge roar that did not wake him up. And Edison was still working tirelessly. At that time, Edison was famous for his tireless work spirit, and many people envied him.

One day, Edison received a visitor, who insisted on introducing this "demon figure" to the "secret" of tireless work. Edison found it funny.

Because there was no secret to his tireless work, he made a joke and told the visitor: "It might be possible to eat a rabbit every morning." People believed it

and stood up to say goodbye. When they returned, they followed suit. However, six weeks later, the man was so tired that he became seriously ill and could not get out of bed. He did not pay much attention to grooming and often wore shabby clothes stained by chemicals. This habit became even worse in his old age. Most people thought he was a cook, and newspapers often published satirical articles about him. This just proves that he devoted all his efforts and energy to scientific research. When he was studying the automatic telegraph machine in 1872, he was fascinated by the experiment and his thoughts were highly concentrated. Once he needed to go outside to handle an urgent matter. But when someone asked him his name, he couldn't remember it for a while. Edison walked steadily and diligently on the road of scientific research.

He indeed spent a lot of physical and mental effort.

On his seventy-seventh birthday, someone asked him what his philosophy of life was. He replied; "Work! Uncover the secrets of nature and make it serve the eyes of mankind." This was the real motivation for his scientific research, but it was not the "secret."

Never satisfied

We know that Edison made more than a thousand inventions and creations throughout his life, some of which have been amazingly successful. He is also famous himself. However, he was never

indulged in his own inventions. He was always climbing into new areas of science, and at the same time, he was always negative about his inventions and creations and continued to improve them

Improvements. He himself said: "I will never be satisfied." Endless study and non-stop improvement are another outstanding feature of Edison. After the battery he invented was successful, he set up a battery factory and mass-produced it, and the sales have been very good. But after a period of time, he found that there was something wrong with the battery, and he couldn't find the cause for a while, so he decided to improve the battery. However, improvement requires time and energy, and the factory will also be closed. This may not only reduce the prestige of his invention of the battery, but also cause great economic losses.

However, he decisively ordered the factory to close its doors immediately. Many people who were satisfied with his batteries asked for more orders, but he refused. He was not afraid of anyone putting financial pressure on him. As a result, the battery he carefully improved was more successful than expected and quickly sold well all over the country. His spirit was in sharp contrast to the merchants at that time who were "gold

with jade on the outside and ruined on the inside" who covered up inferior goods. You can't help but win people's respect and praise.

Among his inventions, the one that shocked society at that time was the phonograph. This is also his proud invention. He is a deaf person, and it is shocking that he can invent such a

sounding machine. However, Edison changed it again and again when he invented it. Ten years later, he took the phonograph down from the dust on the shelf again, determined to improve it. He actually worked continuously for five days and five nights before he achieved success. There are also figures like this that can completely prove his research spirit: he has more than 100 invention patents on the audio machine alone. When we look at today's gramophone, don't forget that it is filled with the blood and sweat of Edison's countless hard work.

It would be extremely difficult to achieve without an endless spirit of study.

Here, we might as well trace two stories from his childhood.

When he was a child, he once saw a hen hatching eggs and giving birth to chicks. He was amazed, but not satisfied.

Afterwards, he secretly saved some eggs and put them in the warehouse. He lay on them to see if he could produce chicks, which made the whole family unable to find him for a while. After entering school at the age of seven, his strong thirst for knowledge and habit of delving into problems became more obvious. He always asked endless questions of one kind or another about the things he came into contact with, and asked the teacher to answer them clearly. The teacher felt very troubled by this. Once in an arithmetic class, the teacher taught the students that two plus two equals four. Edison must ask the teacher to explain why two plus two equals four. Although the teacher gave him a general explanation, it did not satisfy his requirements. So the teacher called him "stupid". Edison was not satisfied with the knowledge he had learned, but was always exploring the secrets of nature with his innocent and childish mind. However, his teacher failed to understand him. But decades later, Edison became a famous inventor.

Naturally, if the inventor Edison had not studied endlessly and made continuous improvements, then many of his inventions and creations would not have become more scientific and perfect day by day. The phonograph he invented is like this, the incandescent light bulb is like this, the battery, the talking film, etc. are all like this. As he said after the success of the incandescent lamp experiment: "No invention is perfect, and the incandescent lamp is no exception today. There is light but no heat, this is the ideal light, and We are still far from this state now! "Edison's open-minded and always enterprising spirit is worthy of praise.