Light

N1: In the 1870s, inventor Thomas Edison built a laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

N2: Edison believed that to invent something, all you needed was a good imagination and a pile of junk.

N3: He hired a team of mechanics, mathematicians, and engineers to help him.

N1: Edison and his men worked on many different ideas. But he became focused on solving one big problem.

N2: Back then, people lit their homes with candles or with lamps that burned oil or gas.

N3: The flames were dangerous. They caused fires and created harmful fumes and black soot.

N1: Edison wanted to find a new and safer way to light up the world.

N2: And he wouldn’t give up until he found it.

Thomas Edison: Nothing is impossible. We just don’t know how to do it yet.

N3: Twelve-year-old Alfred is picking through the trash heap outside Edison’s laboratory.

N1: A man comes out a side door. His hair is uncombed, and he wears a rumpled blue suit.

Edison: Hey there, boy. What have you got?

N2: Alfred slowly opens his hands.

Alfred (shyly): Um, copper wire and glass tubing.

Edison: What do you plan to do with this treasure?

Alfred: I’m going to experiment. I hope to be an inventor like Mr. Edison someday.

Edison: Today may be your lucky day. Come with me.

N3: Edison takes Alfred into the lab.

N1: Machines whir. The smell of burning metal fills the air. Men huddle around worktables heaped with parts and tools.

N2: Edison leads Alfred to a table covered with threads.

Edison: We are working on an incandescent lamp. Do you know what that is?

Alfred: It’s light that glows instead of flickers?

Edison: That’s right. We put a long, thin strand of some material into this glass bulb. That strand is called a filament. It heats and glows when electricity runs through it.

N3: Alfred watches a large, bearded man delicately pluck a fiber from a coconut shell.

Charles Batchelor: Problem is, we can’t find a filament that burns long enough. We’ve tried plants, paper, all kinds of metals. Now we’re trying this coconut fiber.

Edison: When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: You haven’t. Right, Batch?

Batch: Right, Boss.

N1: Alfred’s eyes go wide.

Alfred: You . . . you’re the boss?

N2: Edison winks at Alfred and tips an imaginary hat.

Edison: Mr. Edison, at your service.

N3: Alfred starts helping Edison in his lab. He brings supplies, carries water, and runs errands.

N1: One day, Alfred is tidying the worktables when J.P. Morgan, one of Edison’s investors, arrives waving a newspaper.

J.P. Morgan: Have you seen this headline? “Is Edison a Fake?” See that? A fake!

Edison: Nice to see you too, J.P.

Morgan: You said you were close to making incandescent light. You claimed gaslight would soon be a thing of the past. That was a year ago!

Edison: Electric light has turned out to be more complicated than I thought.

Morgan: Other scientists have already made working lamps.

Edison: True, but they don’t burn for more than a few minutes.

Morgan: If you don’t solve this soon, you’ll get no more money from me. Seems like you and your team just keep failing.

Edison: We have not failed. We have successfully found thousands of ways that won’t work. Don’t you see? Every failure is a step forward.

Morgan: Every failure is a failure.

N2: Morgan storms off.

N3: At Alfred’s home, Mama is teaching Lillie to make dinner. A large bandage is wrapped around Mama’s right arm.

Mama: Now we’re going to chop those potatoes in half and drop them into the boiling water.

Lillie: Here Mama, let me do it. The doctor said you need to rest your arm to help the burns heal.

Mama (shaking her head): Your clumsy mama . . . I still don’t know how I managed to knock over that lamp last week. We’re lucky the whole house didn’t burn down.

N1: Papa comes in with an empty milk jug.

Papa: Where’s your brother, Lillie?

Lillie: In the barn.

N2: Papa goes outside just as flames dart from the barn. He grabs a bucket of water and rushes in.

N3: Alfred is swatting at a growing fire. Papa tosses the water on it.

Papa: What on Earth is going on in here?

Alfred (quietly): I was burning pieces of fishing line, and the hay caught fire.

Papa: What’s all this about?

Alfred: Papa, I met Mr. Edison. He’s making an electric lamp, and I’m going to help!

Papa: You will do no such thing. You’ve been neglecting your chores, Alfred, and I have had it with you.

Alfred: But Papa, I have to! Mama could have died in that fire. I saw it, Papa. The way the flames raced up her sleeve . . . It never would have happened if we had electric lights instead of oil.

Papa (softening): It was a terrible accident, son. But judging from this fire you started, electric lights will be just as dangerous.

Alfred: They will be so much safer. No open flames, no dripping oil or leaking gas. Please believe me, Papa. Mr. Edison is going to change the world!

Papa: You will stop these experiments. That is my final word.

N3: Two months later, Alfred comes to Edison’s lab.

Edison: Ah, my young scientist friend! Where have you been?

Alfred: My papa told me I’m not supposed to come here anymore. I almost burned down our barn.

Edison (chuckling): What were you doing?

Alfred: Burning stuff, trying to find a filament for you.

N1: Batch walks over, carrying a newspaper.

Batch: Why, hello there, Alfred. Boss, I thought you might want to see this headline.

Edison (reading): “Edison’s Light: The Great Inventor’s Triumph in Electric Illumination.” That’s more like it.

Alfred: I wish my father understood how life-changing this is.

Edison: We’ve got a little something to show the world on New Year’s Eve. Why don’t you bring your family?

N2: On the night of December 31, as Alfred and his family are finishing dinner, Alfred clears his throat nervously.

Alfred: There’s something amazing I want to show you all. Will you come for a walk with me?

Papa: Alfred, it’s freezing outside. And you kids have to help your mother with the washing-up. Nobody’s going anywhere.

Alfred: Please, Papa. Trust me. You need to see this.

Lillie (excitedly): What is it?

Alfred: It’s a surprise.

Mama: Alfred, you didn’t even look this excited on Christmas morning!

N3: Alfred, Lillie, and Mama all turn to Papa hopefully.

Alfred (to Papa): I promise you won’t be sorry.

Papa (sighing deeply): Well, all right. But make it quick, before we all catch cold.

N1: Alfred leads his family outside and up the hill to Edison’s lab. Rows of soft, glowing lamps on tall poles illuminate the street.

Lillie: What are those?

Alfred: Electric lights. Aren’t they beautiful?

N2: Mama walks toward the lights in awe.

Mama: I’ve never seen anything like it.

N3: Papa whistles softly and shakes his head.

Papa: I have to say, they are something.

N1: Edison comes to the door to greet them. Warm, lovely light spills out of the lab.

Edison: Welcome, welcome. You must be Alfred’s family.

Papa: Sir, I’m absolutely amazed by these lamps. They don’t flicker or sputter or hiss.

Alfred: I told you, Papa. Edison is a true genius.

Edison: Genius, my young friend, is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.

Papa: Well, your hard work has paid off.

N2: Alfred leads his family to a table where Batch is turning a lamp on and off.

Alfred: See, these wires are attached to that U-shaped filament. When the electricity flows through, the filament gets really hot and starts to glow.

Mama: And that’s what makes the light?

Alfred: Yes, Mama. It can stay lit for more than 100 hours. And it’s so much cleaner and safer than oil or gas.   

Edison (to Mama and Papa): Your son has impressed me. I’d like to make him an official part of my team.

N3: Mama puts her arm around Alfred’s shoulders. Alfred is beaming.

Papa (with pride): Son, I can see you have a bright future.

Edison: We will find out what the world needs, then try hard to invent it. Right, Alfred?

Alfred: Right, Boss.