A person that I feel personally related to, more or less, in place and occupation, is Thomas Edison.
Most of the prior examples of Portraits in Character were people I know, people who directly influenced me for the better, people who created the foundation of who I am. Their good qualities are what I want to convey to the reader for the reader to be aware of and utilize to improve their own life.
Edison was a technologist. I keenly follow his creations since I am an engineer for my career and interest, and I too do creation and innovation. In fact, some of my enthusiasm is colored in a good way by Thomas Edison’s life and work. In addition, I was made aware of Edison at an early age, since he had a major project only a few miles from my home. He worked iron ore on the property of a distant ancestor, Robert Ogden II. The large venture was a great undertaking and included several of his signature inventions that were put to use, included many people gaining employment and being useful in producing useful product, and bringing electricity to a broad wilderness where none existed. And, it was Edison’s biggest failure.
My definition of Profiles in Character include the human qualities such as friendliness, stewardship, and honesty. Another trait pattern is that of applying science and technology. Both these areas provide for means of making life better for humanity.
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) is recognized as an American inventor. He was quite well known as a leading industrialist and creator for over a hundred years. He developed the DC power generation, the phonograph, sound recording and motion picture camera and system. An enormous contribution to society was the light bulb. With the power, transmission and bulb he literally brought light to the world at night.
I consider him a Profile in Courage, a contribution in both humanistic and technologist ways. Those inventions were breakthrough ones. He had notable desire to focus on his thought, to avoid distraction, to concentrate on the work at hand. His mind put forth ideas, and he (eventually his team also) would integrate related efforts to make a better experiment and then optimize the effort to achieve a something useful. His business acumen helped to make these novelties ones that many people would buy because they would help make their life better.
Edison combined all these talents into skill sets and made these into abilities that he used to make life better for many. He began the method of using a research laboratory. He was a driven man, perhaps obsessed to achieve, even to the point that he slept on his desk so as to not leave his focus and his work.
These are some qualities that I would submit are well-earned and of high quality to be a Profile in Character as Thomas Edison. These all have the leverage to make life better, these are qualities that one could look at and emulate.
Episode 13