It is impossible to measure the importance of Edison by adding up his specif

It is impossible to measure the importance of Edison by adding up his specific inventions. Actually, his name(26)is associated with more than that. He did not merely make the lamp and the(27)innumerable devices practicable for general use but demonstrated the power of applied science so concretely, so understandably, so(28)convincingly that he altered the mentality of mankind. Because of Edison, more than of any other man, scientific research has an(29)established place in our society; because of the demonstrations he made, the money of the(30)taxpayers and stockholders has become available for studies, the nature of which they do not often understand, though they(31)appreciate their value and anticipate their ultimate benefits.
    In his lifetime, largely because of his successes, there came into widest acceptance that man could(32)by the use of his intelligence invent a new mode of life. No other person played so great a part as Edison in the change in human(33)expectation, and finally, by the effect of his widely distributed inventions plus a combination of the modern publicity teclmique, he was lifted in the popular imagination to a place where he was(34)looked upon not only as the symbol but as the creator of the new age. Edison also had a peculiar genius for carrying existing discoveries to the point where they could be(35)converted into practicable devices.