<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Thomas Edison was a smart guy]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by birdboy http://www.grist.org/article/thomas-edison-was-a-smart-guy/ Fri, 14 Apr 2006 10:10:15 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/thomas-edison-was-a-smart-guy/1 getting it

Wow. Even more amazing than Edison's ability to see into the future is that even today, when we have learned how to harness the energy of the sun, the wind, and the Earth's core, we still don't get it. Edison understood that the consumption of Nature' resources by fire is wasteful and harmful to the Earth, while energy flows all around us, just waiting to be captured and used, without the need to transform natural things into toxic and harmful waste products. Here we are today, able to capture energy cleanly and efficiently, but still preferring to consume by fire, even in the face of global consequences. Energy exec's blame politics and regulations- consumers blame high prices and inconvenience. So the Earth burns, toxics pile up, the rich get richer, and those that do 'get it' are ridiculed by all. Even Edison was considered a crank in his day. Science and philosophy are not so far apart- maybe that's why you don't hear much of it on prime-time TV or in church.

a liberal in redsville

]]> getting it

Wow. Even more amazing than Edison's ability to see into the future is that even today, when we have learned how to harness the energy of the sun, the wind, and the Earth's core, we still don't get it. Edison understood that the consumption of Nature' resources by fire is wasteful and harmful to the Earth, while energy flows all around us, just waiting to be captured and used, without the need to transform natural things into toxic and harmful waste products. Here we are today, able to capture energy cleanly and efficiently, but still preferring to consume by fire, even in the face of global consequences. Energy exec's blame politics and regulations- consumers blame high prices and inconvenience. So the Earth burns, toxics pile up, the rich get richer, and those that do 'get it' are ridiculed by all. Even Edison was considered a crank in his day. Science and philosophy are not so far apart- maybe that's why you don't hear much of it on prime-time TV or in church.

a liberal in redsville

]]> Comment #2 by GRLCowan http://www.grist.org/article/thomas-edison-was-a-smart-guy/ Sat, 15 Apr 2006 05:35:43 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/thomas-edison-was-a-smart-guy/2 Edison never saw a SSME

He saw steam train engines that might have a big "15" on them to indicate 15 percent heat-to-work efficiency. This was a boast. 15 percent was a new frontier. Now-a-days coal-fired electricity plants are coming into service with efficiencies in the low forties, territory they share with the best automotive diesels. Rocket engines are over 70 percent.

Also, when capturing sunlight, it's quite sensible to capture it in some combustible form. Maybe even hydrogen, as long as you don't try anything stupid like storing it. React it with CO2, make solar gasoline.

Interestingly, Frank Shuman did some of what Edison was calling for in 1912.

--- Graham Cowan, former hydrogen fan
B: internal combustion, nuclear cachet

]]> Edison never saw a SSME

He saw steam train engines that might have a big "15" on them to indicate 15 percent heat-to-work efficiency. This was a boast. 15 percent was a new frontier. Now-a-days coal-fired electricity plants are coming into service with efficiencies in the low forties, territory they share with the best automotive diesels. Rocket engines are over 70 percent.

Also, when capturing sunlight, it's quite sensible to capture it in some combustible form. Maybe even hydrogen, as long as you don't try anything stupid like storing it. React it with CO2, make solar gasoline.

Interestingly, Frank Shuman did some of what Edison was calling for in 1912.

--- Graham Cowan, former hydrogen fan
B: internal combustion, nuclear cachet

]]> Comment #3 by GRLCowan http://www.grist.org/article/thomas-edison-was-a-smart-guy/ Sat, 15 Apr 2006 05:53:37 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/thomas-edison-was-a-smart-guy/3 Link correction

Frank Shuman's 1912 solar initiative

]]> Link correction

Frank Shuman's 1912 solar initiative

]]> Comment #4 by atreyger http://www.grist.org/article/thomas-edison-was-a-smart-guy/ Sun, 16 Apr 2006 03:56:37 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/thomas-edison-was-a-smart-guy/4 wow

Thomas Edison WAS one smart dude to say this back in the day. Except that orangutans don't have tails.

]]> wow

Thomas Edison WAS one smart dude to say this back in the day. Except that orangutans don't have tails.

]]> Comment #5 by amazingdrx http://www.grist.org/article/thomas-edison-was-a-smart-guy/ Sun, 16 Apr 2006 05:28:40 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/thomas-edison-was-a-smart-guy/5 Yep A

Edison was a bit eccentric, but who knew about his renewable power predictions?  I remember reading about his life as a kid, it sure energized my interest in science and technology.

I always admired Edison's combination of invention with business, very few inventors have ever acomplished that.  Even Dean Kamen, one of the most successful inventor/capitalists of this modern age can't come close to Tom.

And who knew about all that solar experimentation  100+ years ago?  Excellent link GRL!  Thanks.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

]]> Yep A

Edison was a bit eccentric, but who knew about his renewable power predictions?  I remember reading about his life as a kid, it sure energized my interest in science and technology.

I always admired Edison's combination of invention with business, very few inventors have ever acomplished that.  Even Dean Kamen, one of the most successful inventor/capitalists of this modern age can't come close to Tom.

And who knew about all that solar experimentation  100+ years ago?  Excellent link GRL!  Thanks.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

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