Thomas Edison had created the first industrial laboratory concerned with creating knowledge and then controlling its application. Edison's name is registered on 1,093 patents. Edison began his career as an inventor in Newark, New Jersey, with the automatic repeater and his other improved telegraphic devices, but the invention that first gained him wider notice was the phonograph in 1877. This accomplishment was so unexpected by the public at large as to appear almost magical. Edison became known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park," New Jersey. His first phonograph recorded on tinfoil around a grooved cylinder. Despite its limited sound quality and that
West Menlo Park, California trees), which extends the length of the Rancho de las Pulgas land granted to the Argüello family (the word Pulgas means "fleas"). It is served by the highly rated Las Lomitas School District and Menlo Park Fire District. More recently, West Menlo Park has gained a reputation as one of the most desirable places to live in North America. A notable newspaper recently ranked West Menlo Park #4 on its "top residential areas in California" article. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all of it land. West Menlo Park has a