ThomasAlvaEdison(February11,1847–October18,1931)wasaninventorandbusinessmanwhodevelopedmanyimportantdevices."TheWizardofMenloPark"wasoneofthefirstinventorstoapplytheprinciplesofmassproductiontotheprocessofinvention.In1880EdisonfoundedthejournalScience,whichin1900becamethejournaloftheAmericanAssociationfortheAdvancementofScience.Edisonisconsideredoneofthemostprolificinventors,holdingarecord1,093patentsinhisname.Mostoftheseinventionswerenotcompletelyoriginalbutimprovementsofearlierpatents,andwereactuallymadebyhisnumerousemployees.Edisonwasfrequentlycriticizedfornotsharingthecredits.Nevertheless,Edisonreceivedpatentsworldwide,includingtheUnitedStates,UnitedKingdom,France,andGermany.EdisonstartedtheMotionPicturePatentsCompany,whichwasaconglomerateofninemajorfilmstudios(commonlyknownastheEdisonTrust).