The decision find better storage battery was not an
act incautious haste Edison rebounded from the ore
milling failure, but rational decision based the available
resources the laboratory and the commercial potential the
innovation. did not begin with unstructured search of
every possible electrochemical combination but with the usual
study the technical literature. Commercial considerations were uppermost these
experiments; each electrochemical combination was tested,
.VII-30
batteries. The West Orange
laboratory staff had also considerable experience the
engineering battery manufacture.")
From 1900 1909, Edison spent much his time working
with chemists the search for the ideal electrochemical
combination. was not
charting new ground; was convinced that alternative to
the lead-acid cell did exist and could found "if real
earnest hunt were made for it. These experiments began soon the laboratory
opened and were continued through the 1890s. (See Sidebar "The Changing Research
Process West Orange. Edison guided the project
along familiar lines and across familiar territory. Every effort had been made economize and
streamline the production cells the Silver Lake complex. The Edison Manufacturing
Company produced thousands Edison-Lalande primary batteries
which were used power phonographs, railway signals, and
medical equipment."^® The lab's staff were
knowledgeable about the chemical reactions cells and all the
equipment was hand
