Edison: His Life and Inventions

Rating:
Summary: shameless or blind
Review: Glorifying and corny. Unconditional praise of Edison achievements. Though the authors are clearly well-read, too many facts are ignored in the account of the circumnstances that lead Edison to the accumulation of patents. Lacks any critic view and end up creating an image of an "american hero" that is as ridiculous as untruth. I quote, just as an example, "In fact, if it were not for Edison's peculiar mentality, that refuses to recognize anything as impossible until indubitably demonstrated to be so, the production of motion pictures would certainly have been delayed for years, if not for all time."
Anyone seriously interested on the subject of the birht of cinema would recognize this as total nonsense or shameless manipulation of facts.
A book to avoid by anyone interested in having a truthfull and independent view on history.

Rating:
Summary: Edison - Creator of Industry
Review: The invention of the first light bulb inaugurated a new age for man: Electricity. Just as Edison had to create the tools to make the first bulb, he had to create the industry to use it. He did, and in doing so he assembled the first research laboratory and gathered around him a collection of great minds -- a rich assortment of men with varying talents.