The measures spread across America.

美国各地纷纷效仿他的做法

Just 16 years after Colonel Waring,half of all cities have waste collection.

在华林上校的开创之举仅仅16年后，全美一半的城市实行了垃圾回收制度

And it is not just waste. By 1907, every large city in the nation has sewers.

不仅如此，到1907年美国所有大城市建立起了城市下水道系统

By 1909, there are 42,040 miles of sewers in America.

到1909年，美国城市下水道总长度达42040英里

The battle against filth, crime and poverty has begun.

一场对抗污秽、犯罪和贫穷的战争已经打响

But one of the city's greatest innovations is still in its infancy.

不过， 一项城市发展过程中伟大的发明，此刻仍在萌芽之中

One man will change the urban landscape forever.

有一个人的发明将彻底改变城市的面貌

Menlo Park, New Jersey, 1879.

新泽西州，门洛帕克，1879年

Thomas Edison: inventor, entrepreneur, showman.

托马斯·爱迪生，发明家、企业家、电影制片人

He was taken out of school as a boy, but that won't stop him from becoming synonymous with inventions that define the modern era.

小时候曾被学校勒令退学的他，却在日后将爱迪生这个名字，与众多改变世界的现代发明紧紧联系起来

He pushes his team hard, 24/7, in one of the world's first R&D labs.

他的研发实验室是世界上最早的实验室之一，他要求实验团队夜以继日地连续工作

It will generate more than 1,000 patents.

这里将会诞生超过1000件专利发明

America still lights the night in the dangerous flick candles, gas and kerosene.

当时美国人在夜晚来临后只能使用蜡烛、汽油和煤油等不安全的照明灯具

Edison thinks he has a better idea,if he can get a filament to burn slowly in a vacuum.

爱迪生认为他的新设计能改变这种局面，他的构想是使灯丝在真空中缓慢燃烧

The electric light bulb.

这就是后来的白炽灯泡

Platinum.

铂金可行吗

Edison locks himself in his lab, doesn't sleep for days.

爱迪生把自己反锁在实验室中连续几天不曾合眼

The stakes are high.

这是场豪赌

His backers have sunk $130,000 into his research, millions in today's money.

投资者给他的研究投入了13万美元，相当于今天数百万美元

He claimed to have gone through 6,000 materials from the plant world alone in his search for the perfect filament.

他宣称，光在植物中就试验了6000多种材料，就为了寻找理想的灯丝

Turn on the lamp, Jack.

杰克，开灯试下

Spruce.Beard. Fish line.Thread.Teak. Boxwood. Celluloid, parchment.

云杉、胡须、钓鱼线、线头、柚木、黄杨木、赛璐珞、羊皮纸

Then something extraordinary happens.Cardboard.

接着 ，一件奇妙的事情发生了，厚纸板