“There’s a better way to do it. find it.”

– Thomas Alva Edison

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About Us

what shapes a person to become who they are?

For Thomas Edison, illness in his youth severely impacted his hearing for life. His deafness would reverberate throughout his pursuit of adventure and understanding of the world around him through observation, discovery, determination, and a sense of purpose.

Science, invention and entrepreneurship embodied the life and legacy of Thomas Edison. Known for inventing the first marketable electric light bulb, phonograph, motion picture projector and perfecting of the ticker tape, he holds a record 1,093 U.S. patents and 2,332 patents worldwide.

As Life Magazine’s Man of the Millennium, Edison received credit for providing society with more practical value than any other living human. His impact is projected to account for one-fourth of all the world’s jobs. Estimates of six to ten percent of the American economy is due to his inventive genius. This equates to approximately one and a half trillion dollars annually.

His many quotes touch on life’s challenging themes of having purpose and persistence; of learning through failure and hard work, to finding “the value of an idea in the using of it.” In his own words, Thomas Alva Edison emboldens us all, “There’s a better way to do it. Find it.”

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winter home & workshop

Southwest Florida would become Thomas Edison’s winter home. Here, his character, passion, and spirit of innovation attracted a group of the twentieth century’s most remarkable individuals who embodied the American Dream. Among them were Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, Harvey Firestone, and Dr. Alex Carrell. James Newton later coined the group as the “Uncommon Friends”.

The Edison Fairs has strong connections to this esteemed group. Students are recognized for their scientific and inventive excellence through the Edison Regional Science & Inventors Fairs and The Henry Ford National Invention Convention. Earth Shine Institute’s Argonauta Scholarships embody Lindbergh’s impact on pursuit of progress in balance with nature. James Newton and his wife, Eleanor, lived to experience the Edison Fairs and to establish a Collaboratory annual four year scholarship recognizing STEMIE achievement and character of two middle school students. Additionally, the pinnacle of the group’s accolades, Edison Awards, an American company currently based in Fort Myers, engages Edison Fairs Science and Inventors Fair students in the annual competition honoring global excellence in new product and service development, marketing, design and innovation.

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The “uncommon friends”

Thomas Edison
Henry Ford
Charles Lindbergh
Harvey Firestone
Dr. Alex Carrell

Science & Engineering invention & Enterpreneurship

On education

edison was among the first
to recognize:

“The trouble with our way of educating is that it does not give elasticity to the mind. It casts the brain into a mold. It insists that the child must accept. It does not encourage original thought or reasoning, and it lays more stress on memory than observation.”

Edison Fairs endeavors to break this mold encouraging participants to use creative problem solving, in an environment of experiential convergent and transdisciplinary learning. We at Edison Fairs foster this more creative type of education!

thomas alva edison’s insightful and inspirational quotes

“If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves...”

“I find out what the world needs. Then I go ahead and try to invent it.”

“To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.”

“A genius is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework.”

"I have more respect for the fellow with a single idea who gets there than for the fellow with a thousand ideas who does nothing.”

“When I have finally decided that a result is worth getting, I go ahead on it and make trial after trial until it comes.”

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

“Unfortunately, there seems to be far more opportunity out there than ability... We should remember that good fortune often happens when opportunity meets with preparation.”

“Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence and honest purpose, as well as perspiration.”

“Anything that won’t sell, I don’t want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success.”

“I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. I wish I had more years left.”

“I never did a day’s work in my life, it was all fun.”

“One might think that the money value of an invention constitutes its reward to the man who loves his work. But speaking for myself, I can honestly say this is not so... I continue to find my greatest pleasure, and so my reward, in the work that precedes what the world calls success.”

“I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world.”

“Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.”

“The man who doesn’t make up his mind to cultivate the habit of thinking misses the greatest pleasure in life.”

“The world owes nothing to any man, but every man owes something to the world.”

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Big ideas are all around us. We want to keep you up to date on our fairs and how you or someone you may know might be able to get involved.