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A piece of carbonized cardboard burns for 300 hours.
一片燒成炭的紙板可以燃燒300小時
It's going to change the way people live forever.
這項發明將徹底改變人們的生活
What Edison does is nothing less than to banish the darkness.
愛迪生所做的不啻于永遠驅逐了黑暗
Now think of the meaning of that.
想想這意味著什么
Think of what that means to daily life.
這對我們日常生活意味著什么
New Year's Eve 1879. Edison shows off his new invention.
1879年，元旦前夜，愛迪生向人們展示他的新發明
Thousands of people flock to his lab to see the future take shape.
成千上萬的人競相來到他的實驗室想親眼目睹未來生活的模樣
The Pennsylvania Railroad arranges special trains to accommodate the crowds.
賓夕法尼亞鐵路當局適時安排了專列以滿足參觀者的需求
When Thomas Edison invented that light bulb, that electric light bulb,what a-- how magical that must have been.
托馬斯·愛迪生發明了燈泡白熾電燈炮，那是一種多么壯觀的景象啊
You know, to sit there and just all of a sudden, without a match, without kerosene or gas ... and just flip a switch and... light.
人們突然發現，不用點火柴，也不用煤油或汽油了，只要打開一個開關，就會出現燈光
In just two years, Edison builds more than 5,000 power plants, generating electricity for cities like New York, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis and New Orleans.
短短兩年時間愛迪生就建造了5000座發電廠，電力源源不斷地輸送到紐約、波士頓、芝加哥、底特律、圣路易斯和新奧爾良等城市
Over the next five years, he builds over 127,000 more.
接下來的5年間，又建了十二萬七千多座發電廠
By 1902, 18 million light bulbs are in use.
到1902年，全美使用中的白熾燈泡達到1800萬只
The impact is massive.
這一變革影響深遠
Sports, entertainment, factories, stores all can now operate at night.
體育場、娛樂場所、工廠和商店，全都能在晚上照常運營
And as electricity comes to the cities,more and more people arrive with it.
隨著輸送至城市的電能的增加，越來越多的人隨之涌入城市
By 1900,nearly 4 million women are working in US cities.
到1900年，美國城市有將近400萬女性勞動者
In just 40 years, that figure has more than quadrupled.
在短短40年時間里，這個數字增加到比之前4倍還多
Urban factories are pounding out 75% of all consumer products in the US.
城市工廠生產的消費產品，占到整個美國市場的75%
Places like this,modern steel-frame buildings equipped with all the latest technology, Otis electric elevators, Bell telephones, Singer sewing machines.
這是一間典型的工廠，現代化的鋼結構建筑，配備最新科技成果，奧的斯電梯，貝爾電話，勝家縫紉機
But packing so many people into tall buildings is a disaster waiting to happen.
不過，這么多人擠在這些高樓里，發生事故幾乎是必然的
The United States is hurtling into the modern age.
美國正在飛速進入現代化
Symbolized by megacities rising up all across the continent.
從東到西拔地而起的現代大都市是這個時期最顯眼的標志
By 1909, Americans are spending nearly 23 billion dollars a year on ready-made clothes.
截至1909年，美國人每年在成衣上的開支達到230億美元
This factory is producing 12,000 garments a week. Known as shirtwaists,
這間服裝廠每周生產一萬兩千件成衣，均為女式襯衫
they're the latest fashion for the working woman.
在當時參加工作的女性中十分流行
