At some
point this year, I listened to a series of podcasts that dove into the
complicated story of Thomas Edison versus Nikola Tesla. Everyone knows Thomas Edison while I think
Mr. Tesla is a bit more obscure. The
reasons this is true are nuanced and a great education in being not only
excellent at your job but also at promoting yourself. Edison worked tirelessly on his visions,
patented his inventions and was, in short, an excellent businessman. Tesla had the same mind, the same inventions,
but fell short in other areas that have now relegated him to the fringes of history
while Edison is now being used a baby name (God help us). I won't weigh in on whether I think Edison was a "jerk" as so many people believe because I would need to read far more about both men before reaching a valid conclusion.
I recently updated the look
of all my blogs so I spent time reading quotes from famous scientists. By far, Edison had the most inspiring and most
heart-touching quotes. Think
what you will of Thomas Edison and come to your own conclusions about the
apparent feud (podcast and article links at the bottom!), but read his words on life and let them lift your spirits. As we
say goodbye to 2012 and welcome in 2013, I wanted to offer some
inspiration.
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they
were to success when they gave up.”
“If we all did the things we are capable of, we would astound
ourselves.”
“When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven’t.”
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to try
just one more time.”
“Your worth consists in what you are and not what you have.”
These
are just the ones that I thought had universal appeal. I have another five quotes that are
specifically science-related. I’ll
incorporate them into another post about perseverance and how science mildly
messes with your head but leads you to amazing places.
As I
said before, I’m hopeful and excited for 2013.
It’s been an insanely busy end of 2012 for me with three different
papers and a mess of experiments that I needed to finish. My recent posts have disappointed me in their
lack of scientific substance. I plan to
return to scientific-explanation posts again because they are my favorite and the reason I began these
blogs to begin with. Coming soon: triskaidekaphobia (and phobias in general), proteins vs. cells vs. animals and
how scientists decide where to focus, migraine hangovers, and prions…
Happy New Year!
REFERENCES
All Thomas Edison quotes came from Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/3091287.Thomas_A_Edison
Edison vs. Tesla podcasts: “How did Nikola Tesla change the
way we use energy?” Tuesday, June 9, 2009 (http://www.howstuffworks.com/podcasts/stuff-you-should-know.rss)
Edison vs. Tesla articles: http://science.howstuffworks.com/nikola-tesla.htm
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