# Thomas Edison Admires Maria Montessori [https://www.edisonmuckers.org/thomas-edison-admires-maria-montessori/](https://www.edisonmuckers.org/thomas-edison-admires-maria-montessori/) > Edison was quoted as saying … ”I like the Montessori method. It teaches through play. It makes learning a pleasure. It follows the natural instincts of the human being … The present system casts the brain into a mold. It does not encourage original thought or reasoning.” **Thomas Alva Edison** (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman.[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison#cite_note-1)[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison#cite_note-Sproule1-2)[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison#cite_note-SoNJ1-3) He developed many devices in fields such as [electric power generation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_generation "Electricity generation"), [mass communication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_communication "Mass communication"), [sound recording](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_recording "Sound recording"), and [motion pictures](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film "Film").[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison#cite_note-coned1-4) These inventions, which include the [phonograph](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph "Phonograph"), the [motion picture camera](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_camera "Movie camera"), and early versions of the electric [light bulb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incandescent_light_bulb "Incandescent light bulb"), have had a widespread impact on the modern [industrialized world](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_society "Industrial society").[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison#cite_note-Wizard-5) He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention, working with many researchers and employees. He established the first industrial [research laboratory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_laboratory "Research laboratory").[\[6\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison#cite_note-Walsh-6) Edison was raised in the American [Midwest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwest "Midwest"); early in his career, he worked as a [telegraph operator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegraph_operator "Telegraph operator"), which inspired some of his earliest inventions.[\[4\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison#cite_note-coned1-4) In 1876, he established his first laboratory facility in [Menlo Park, New Jersey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menlo_Park,_New_Jersey "Menlo Park, New Jersey"), where many of his early inventions were developed. He later established a [botanical](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botany "Botany") laboratory in [Fort Myers, Florida](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Myers,_Florida "Fort Myers, Florida"), in collaboration with businessmen [Henry Ford](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford "Henry Ford") and [Harvey S. Firestone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_S._Firestone "Harvey S. Firestone"), and a laboratory in [West Orange, New Jersey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Orange,_New_Jersey "West Orange, New Jersey"), that featured the world's first [film studio](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_studio "Film studio"), the [Black Maria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edison%27s_Black_Maria "Edison's Black Maria"). He was a [prolific inventor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prolific_inventors "List of prolific inventors"), holding 1,093 [US patents in his name](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Edison_patents "List of Edison patents"),[\[7\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison#cite_note-7) as well as patents in other countries. Edison married twice and fathered six children. He died in 1931 of complications of [diabetes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetes "Diabetes"). (Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison))