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 per capita income for the CDP was $62,302. 2.9% of the population and 0.4% of families were below the poverty line. 0.3% of those under the age of 18 and 4.1% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. In the California State Legislature, West Menlo Park is in , and in . In the United States House of Representatives, West Menlo Park is in . For primary schools, West Menlo Park is served by the Las Lomitas Elementary School District. For high school, West Menlo Park is served by the Sequoia Union High School District, with