dward Gibbon's Fall of the Roman Empire and Decline, and more. Nancy Edison encouraged her curious son to learn things for himself. His parents were dedicated to teaching their children. They did not force him to learn about things he didn't enjoy. So he learned about things that interested him the most. When Thomas was nine Nancy Edison gave him an elementary science book. It explained how to do chemistry experiments at home. Edison did every experiment in the book. Then Nancy gave him more books on science. He soon loved chemistry and spent all his spare money buying chemicals from a local pharmacy. He collected bottles, wires, and other items for experiments. Abbott Pg. 2 At age 10, Thomas built his first science laboratory in the basement of the family's home. His father disapproved of all the time Thomas spent in the basement. Sometimes Sam offered a penny to Thomas if he would go back to reading books. But Thomas often used his pennies to buy more chemicals for experiments. He labeled all his bottles "Poison".(Denmark pg. 25) Edison had many ear problems throughout his childhood. When he was 15, a train accident injured his ears more. When he tried to jump on a moving train, a conductor grabbed the boy's ears to help pull him up. Thomas said he felt something snap inside his head. He soon began to lose much of his hearing. (Swanson pg. 34) Thomas never became deaf, but from then on he was hard of hearing. His deafness could have been cured by an operation. But Thomas refused the operation. He said being deaf helped him concentrate. When Edison was 21, he got a job in Boston as an expert night telegraph operator. Even though he worked nights, he slept little during the day. He was too busy experimenting with electrical currents. Edison worked to improve a telegraph machine that would send many messages at the same time over the same wire. He borrowed money from a friend, and soon quit his job. Now he could spend all his time invent...
