38. The Man of a Thousand Ideas

Short Stories
of Science and Invention

A Collection of Radio Talks by
Charles F. Kettering

Weekly, from September 1942 to July 1945, Charles F. Kettering gave five-minute intermission talks about Science and Invention during the radio broadcasts of the General Motors Symphony of the Air.

Kettering invented the first automobile self-starter, and for 31 years directed a research laboratory for General Motors.

These radio talks are a fascinating legacy from the mind of a prolific inventor. The obvious anachronisms now add a historical perspective of the war-time period in which they were written.

These web pages now preserve some of the most popular stories for a new generation to read The text and art come from a General Motors booklet of selected talks. (Reprint, March 1959)

38. The Man of a Thousand Ideas
A Radio Talk by Charles F. Kettering

        On February 11th, 1847, the great American Thomas A. Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. His inventions have changed the entire pattern of civilization.

     Edison's ideas have invaded almost every phase of our daily life. We pick up a telephone and his handiwork is there. We push a switch and Edison's idea illuminates the room. We put a record on a phonograph and Edison makes it come to life.

     He helped create the electrical age and made the world of motion pictures. Edison has made our world a more convenient, a more interesting and a much better place in which to live. And what is just as important, he created millions of new jobs.

Edison

     Nearly all of us are familiar with the story of the first incandescent lamp, his experiments with the phonograph and motion pictures, but perhaps some of the other highlights in his life are not so well known.

     Edison never seemed to have enough to do. Even while working fifteen hours a day as a train newsboy, on the side he learned telegraphy and set up an amateur printing press in the mail car.

     His education consisted of observing, doing and reading. Later when he became an expert telegraph operator, he still found time to continue his studies.