Lewis Latimer--the Black Man Who Helped Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell

[Anonymous]

from article:

"Lewis Howard Latimer was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, on September 4, 1848, to parents who had fled slavery. While working at a patent firm, he taught himself mechanical drawing and drafting by observing the work of other draftsmen at the firm. Recognizing Latimer's talent and promise, the firm partners promoted him from office boy to draftsman. In addition to assisting others, Latimer designed a number of his own inventions, including an improved railroad car bathroom and an early air conditioning unit.

Latimer's talents were well-matched to the post-Civil War period, which saw a large number of scientific and engineering breakthroughs. Latimer was directly involved with one of these inventions: the telephone. Working with Alexander Graham Bell, Latimer helped draft the patent for Bell's design of the telephone. He was also involved in the field of incandescent lighting, a particularly competitive field, working for Hiram Maxim and Thomas Edison."



Read rest here: http://www.biography.com/people/lewis-howard-latimer-9374422

[Anonymous]

I was also recently reading about an African American woman scientist who discovered to structure of DNA prior to Watson and Crick and doesn't get credit.

[Anonymous]

Yep!

[Anonymous]

I am surprised he got any credit. Edison and Bell stole most of "their" inventions.

[Anonymous]

and Steve jobs got credit for Apple but many more behind the scenes did the work, so what?

What is your point this happens everywhere everyday

Look at the guy at 3m who invented post its.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised he got any credit. Edison and Bell stole most of "their" inventions.

OP here:

I think that's a bit of a overstatement. Edison and Bell were very fine inventors and very fine men.
I don't think I'd go so far as to say that they stole their inventions.


On another note, here is a book that Latimer wrote about his discoveries/the light bulb in the early 1900s: http://books.google.com/books?id=RlY4AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=lewis+latimer&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RtVvUrPTNqPr2wWZoYGoAQ&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=lewis%20latimer&f=false

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:and Steve jobs got credit for Apple but many more behind the scenes did the work, so what?

What is your point this happens everywhere everyday

Look at the guy at 3m who invented post its.

I wonder if the tables were turned, would you still be saying this?

A minority is credited as one of history's greatest inventors, but it was later discovered that a white man actually did much of the work. Guess what--he would be labeled a fraud and repudiated.

But when whites do it, it's okay?
Just goes to show you that minorities are held to double standards.

[Anonymous]

Morgan Garrett, creator of the traffic light and gas mask used in WWI.

The ENTIRE world has benefitted from his invention. How many people know he was African-American, the son of slaves?

http://inventors.about.com/od/mstartinventors/a/Garrett_Morgan.htm

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Morgan Garrett, creator of the traffic light and gas mask used in WWI.

The ENTIRE world has benefitted from his invention. How many people know he was African-American, the son of slaves?

http://inventors.about.com/od/mstartinventors/a/Garrett_Morgan.htm

Sorry, I reversed his first and last name.....Garrett Morgan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was also recently reading about an African American woman scientist who discovered to structure of DNA prior to Watson and Crick and doesn't get credit.

I know about Rosalind Franklin--but is this someone else? (As far as I know, Rosalind Franklin is white, right?)

[Anonymous]

OP, I guarantee that Kim Kardashian's ass thread will get more views than this important thread on African-American inventors. You can count on it.

[Anonymous]

I wonder what he would have become had he been white?

[Anonymous]

Welcome to Science Talk, the weekly podcast of Scientific American for the seven days starting January 9th, 2008. I'm Steve Mirsky. Last week, we took a quick look at an 1883 Scientific American article that doubted whether the telephone would ever replace the telegraph. The question was on the table because on March 10th, the 1876, Alexander Graham Bell, made the first telephone call to his assistant, Thomas Watson. But how exactly, did Bell invent the phone? Journalist and author Seth Shulman has written a new book, The Telephone Gambit,in which he puts forth some compelling evidence that Bell stole the idea for one of the basic elements of the telephone. We'll hear about that, plus we'll test your knowledge about some recent science in the news. Seth Shulman specializes in science and technology. He's written for the Smithsonian, Tech Review, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone and other publications. The Telephone Gambit is his fifth book. I called him at his home in North Hampton, Massachusetts.

Steve: Hi Seth! How are you today?

Shulman: Good, thanks! How are you Steve?

Steve: Pretty good. Good to talk to you. So, The Telephone Gambit, chasing Alexander Graham Bell's secret. You know, as we turn over all the cards, what's the secret?

Shulman: What happened to me is that I was researching as a fellow at MIT and I was reading Bell's laboratory notebook; and I stumbled on a picture in there that raised alarm bells for me, and it turns out to have been copied almost exactly from a patent filing made by Bell's main rival Elisha Gray and this started me on a whole search to find out, how in the world a picture like that could have gotten into Bell's notebook. Of course, this happened two days before his famous line calling to Watson. So, the secret is it looks like Bell plagiarized the successful design for a telephone from his rival Elisha Gray; and I go to great lengths to unravel what turns out to be quite a twisted tale about how that might have happened.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=5F1A8F35-C6A1-6742-6DCB11D92DAE6D09

[Anonymous]

December 29th, 2008

9 Inventions Edison Did Not Make
"Keep on the lookout for novel ideas that others have used successfully. Your idea has to be original only in its adaptation to the problem you’re working on." - Thomas Edison.

1. The Electric Bulb or Incandescent Lamp
2. The Electric Chair
3. The Movie Camera
4. The Power Generator
5. X-Ray Photographs (fluoroscope)
6. The Storage Battery
7. The Record Player
8. Wax Paper
9. The Telegraph
http://jawadonweb.cpage_id=900om/?

Thomas Edison was known by those who worked for him more as a thief of ideas than as an inventor of anything that was in any way useful. The most unfortunate decision of Nikola Tesla's life was to go to work for Thomas Edison.
Edison was notoriously disdainful of those whose brilliance outshone his, and the Tesla alliance did not last long.
Later Tesla worked on furthering X-ray technology, as well as inventing the Tesla coil, a device still used in many wireless products today. There is no denying that Nikola Tesla was a genius when it came to invention, but he definitely lacked something Edison actually did possess: the ability to manipulate public opinion and intimidate others.

What most people do not know is that Edison ran a sweat shop think-tank and brought out all the fruits of his hired labor under his brand name and patent. In 1890 an English inventor named William Friese-Greene, hoping to join this invertor`s club and wrongly thinking his moving picture process was protected by patent, set copies of his research to Edison.
Edison did not give Friese-Greene a job but he did give Friese-Greene`s research to W. K. L. Dickson. Dickson was the Edison wage slave that had the movie bug. He was the driving force behind film. Edison was against projecting images in a theater setting. Edison was looking for a better nickelodeon device.
Edison then protected his stolen idea with a hired band of club welding thugs who would bust up the equipment and the operators of movie cameras not paying him for use of his patent. One of the reasons that the film capital of the world is in Hollywood is because filmmakers were trying to get away from edison`s club welding thugs who chased them across the country.
Even on the other side of the country filmmakers had to fear Edison`s thugs. Samuel Goldfish, later Goldwyn, use to sleep with all his exposed film under his bed and a shot gun propt agaist the night table for fear of the look arm of this beloved inventor.
Source(s):
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article…
http://www.agni-animation.com/blog/2008/…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous



and Steve jobs got credit for Apple but many more behind the scenes did the work, so what?

What is your point this happens everywhere everyday

Look at the guy at 3m who invented post its.

Totally different.