Thomas Edison is acclaimed as the ‘Wizard of Menlo Park, ’ and as Time magazine’s ‘Man of the Century.’ Edison saw himself as a benefactor of humanity. But in this startling new look at Edison, Dr. George J. Hill suggests that the price of invention was serious industrial pollution and other environmental costs. Meadows, ponds, and forest disappeared to make way for Edison’s laboratories, factories, and mining operation; water and soil pollution were rife, and the health consequences for workers and residents were severe.

Dr. Hill is the first author to offer a comprehensive look at Edison’s impact on the environment. Edison’s Environment examines the inventor’s interactions – as expressed in his life, thought and career – with the natural world, and traces the development of environmental consciousness in the views of Edison and his contemporaries. He explores the fundamental debate about how we should judge the actions and ethics of past generations. In so doing, George Hill has written one of the most novel and original works on Edison to appear in a generation. - Mark Edward Lender, Ph.D.

A bibliography and a full-name, place and subject index add to the value of this work.

About the Author: George J. Hill, M.D., D.Litt., is Professor of Surgery Emeritus at New Jersey Medical School - Rutgers University. He is the author of more than a dozen books and over 200 papers and articles on medicine and history. This is the third edition of his book on Edison’s Environment.