VIII-19
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developing the battery and preparing for manufacture.
In 1900 Edison was sprightly 53-year-old, but his
health had begun deteriorate and the early twentieth century
marked serious decline. Experimenting was dangerous work;
Edison had been burnt explosions, gased toxic fumes, and
exposed radiation the course his work. The desperate search find
the bugs the battery wore him out drove himself the
limit save the project. Edison's business associates
and the general public were told that had retired from
commercial work and was now going devote himself general
scientific experimenting for his own personal enjoyment. became seriously ill 1900 and
again 1901.
The storage battery research had detrimental effect on
both Edison's finances and health. Several his
men had been crushed ore milling equipment, and one
experimenter had died from radiation poisoning. The pressures managing the Edison enterprise was
too much for Johnny Randolph, who took his own life 1908. The mental
trauma unsuccessful R&D campaign also took its toll and
Dickson was probably not the only mucker suffer nervous
breakdown."
The failing health the founder presented immediate
. Such was the danger this
condition that Edison decided "retire from commercial
business altogether" 1907. underwent emergency surgery ear
infection 1906 and 1908. In
1908 his secretaries announced their correspondence that "we
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no longer commercial work the lab
