Edison National Historic Site

Selections from a test, written by Edison,
for potential employees

If you wanted to work as an executive for Thomas A. Edison, Incorporated in the early 1920s, you had to pass a test. Edison himself chose the questions, which ranged from geography to astronomy to economics to fiction to history. The inventor believed that an intelligent, well educated person should know most of the answers. After all, he knew them and he had never been to college. In fact, he had mostly been home schooled by his mother!

At the time, the test was surrounded by controversy. Were these questions really a good test of knowledge? Or were they as eccentric as Edison himself? Did Edison really understand the importance of a college education? It was not long before the questions were leaked to newspapers by someone who took the test. The New York Times printed both the list of questions and the answers. As a result, Edison had to change the test more than once.

To Edison, knowing the answers was not as important as being able to answer so many different questions. He wanted employees who could memorize a great deal of information. Such people would be able to make quick business decisions for Edison's company. Ironically Edison's own son, Theodore, failed the test even though he was a gifted student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Even Albert Einstein, who took the test after it was published in the newspapers, failed.

In Edison's time, the job applicant had to write the answer underneath the question, rather than choosing from several possible answers. In the summer of 1998, our interns from Seton Hall Preparatory School selected the following questions from the dozens that were on the original tests and rewrote them as multiple choice questions.

Remember, the correct answer was the one given in 1921.

Have Fun! (Click here to learn more about Edison's test and to try your hand at a longer, interactive version. )

1) What is the lightest wood?

     A) Pine
     B) Balsa
     C) Mahogany
     D) Maple

2) Where is Manchuria?

     A) Germany
     B) Brazil
     C) Nigeria
     D) China

3) What is the highest mountain?

     A) Mount Everest
     B) Mount Rushmore
     C) Kilimanjaro
     D) Mount McKinley

4) Who invented the cotton gin?

     A) Fulton
     B) Whitney
     C) Deere
     D) Nobel

5) What country are earthquakes most frequent?

     A) Hawaii
     B) Japan
     C) U.S.A
     D) Bosnia