Was Thomas Edison a vegetarian

Answer 1

Found this online:
"Mr. Edison a Vegetarian. - During the recent illness, from mastoiditis, of Mr. Thos. Alva Edison, the famous inventor ceased using meat and went for a thorough course of vegetarianism. Mr. Edison was so pleased with the change of diet that, now he has regained his normal health, he continues to renounce meat in all it's forms." This is listed on http://www.ivu.org/history/northam20a/edison.html as being from a 1908 newsletter. However, IVU states they don't have any further info on whether he continued with vegetarianism or not.


I did find that Edison was also firmly committed to nonviolence. Taken from Wikipedia: "Nonviolence was key to Edison's moral views, and when asked to serve as a naval consultant for World War I, specified he would only work on defensive weapons and later noted, "I am proud of the fact that I never invented weapons to kill." Edison's philosophy of nonviolence extended to animals as well, about which he stated: "Nonviolence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages."


Given Edison's commitment to nonviolence, and the fact that most great inventors such as Einstein and Da Vinci were also known for their vegetarian diets, I'd be willing to bet Edison was as well.