Did thomas Edison invent or improve the light bulb?

Answer 1

He improved it.

Many decades prior to Edison, it had been known that running an electric current through a wire would result in a glowing light. However, using this as means of lighting was completely impractical, as the wire would burn out in seconds. Edison was able to devise a practical and easy to manufacture light bulbs, as well as the electrical production and distribution system that people would be willing to pay for to get electrical appliances.

In most of his efforts, Edison was not so much an original innovator as he was someone who found a way to make money off a technology. After he learned that nobody wanted to use his first invention -- an electrical vote-counter (legislators wanted a SLOW means to vote so as to do last-minute lobbying) -- Edison decided to only work on things that somebody would want to use and (more importantly) pay for.

Answer 2

Thomas Edison improved the light bulb by developing a longer-lasting version with a carbon filament that could be mass-produced. He did not invent the light bulb, as it had already been created by earlier inventors.