Large supplies chemicals were purchased and stored in
3
Building and the third floor Building 5. 2
undertook his own investigations. Through this search, Edison learned
that other inventors and scientists had identified alternatives
to the lead-acid battery and kept their work mind he
. his insistence, his staff cast
a worldwide net, consulting not only American but also English,
French, and German sources.
After searching the literature for about nine months,
Edison was ready begin experimenting. For his own experiments,
Edison set laboratory bench the back room Building
2. Significantly, with its preponderance of
experimenters trained science, the storage battery project
differed from previous inventions which Edison had used a
mixture college men and mechanics.2
over scientific and engineering journals collect information
about all types batteries.
Edison started this team off having them investigate
the familiar electrochemical combination the primary
battery. Consisting about a
dozen experimenters, this team worked primarily Building 2,
where each man was assigned table. From there, Edison had his researchers vary one
component the cell and conduct tests until they obtained
optimal results. Generally, Edison and his assistants tested
different materials for the components the cell packing
. the spring 1899,
he assembled research team selecting men already work
at the lab and hiring new group professional chemists
and engineers
