When was Willie Soon born?

Wei-Hock "Willie" Soon (born 1966) is a Malaysian aerospace engineer who is a part-time externally funded researcher at the Solar and Stellar Physics (SSP) Division of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Willie Soon

Soon is a climate change denier, disputing the scientific understanding of climate change, and contends that most global warming is caused by solar variation rather than by human activity. He co-wrote a paper whose methodology was widely criticised by the scientific community. Climate scientists such as Gavin Schmidt of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies  have refuted Soon's arguments, and the Smithsonian does not support his conclusions. He is nonetheless frequently cited by politicians opposed to climate-change legislation.

Soon co-authored "The Maunder Minimum and the Variable Sun–Earth Connection" with Steven H. Yaskell. The book treats historical and proxy records of climate change coinciding with the Maunder Minimum, a period from 1645 to about 1715 when sunspots became exceedingly rare.

From 2005 to 2015, Soon had received over $1.2 million from the fossil fuel industry, while failing to disclose that conflict of interest in most of his work.

Willie Soon was born in Kangar, Malaysia, in 1966. He attended Khoon Aik Primary School in Kangar, Perlis, then Sekolah Menengah Syed Sirajudin Secondary School in Jejawi, Perlis, and Sekolah Menengah Dato Sheikh Ahmad Secondary School in Arau, Perlis. To further his education he emigrated to the United States in 1980 and attended the University of Southern California, receiving a B.Sc. in 1985, followed by a M.Sc. in 1987 and then a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering [with distinction] in 1991. His doctoral thesis was titled "Non-equilibrium kinetics in high-temperature gases". He received the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society Graduate Scholastic Award in 1989 and the Rockwell Dennis Hunt Scholastic Award from the University of Southern California in 1991.

After completing his Ph.D., Soon took up a post-doctoral research position at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He has been doing research in astrophysics and earth science there as an externally funded employee since 1991. He has also been an astronomer at the Mount Wilson Observatory a senior scientist at the George C. Marshall Institute think tank, the chief science adviser to the oil industry-funded Science and Public Policy Institute, and an Adjunct Professor of the Faculty of Science and Environmental Studies of the University of Putra, Malaysia. In 2004, the conservative Doctors for Disaster Preparedness awarded Soon the "Petr Beckmann Award for outstanding contributions to the defense of scientific truth". In 2014, Soon received the "Courage in Defense of Science award" from the conservative, now defunct, George C. Marshall Institute think tank.

In 2003, Willie Soon was first author on a review paper in the journal "Climate Research", with Sallie Baliunas as co-author. This paper concluded that "the 20th century is probably not the warmest nor a uniquely extreme climatic period of the last millennium."

Shortly thereafter, 13 scientists published a refutation of the paper. They raised three main objections: (1) Soon and Baliunas used data reflective of changes in moisture, rather than temperature; (2) they failed to distinguish between regional and hemispheric mean temperature anomalies; and (3) they reconstructed past temperatures from proxy evidence not capable of resolving decadal trends. Soon, Baliunas and David Legates published a response to these objections.

After disagreement with the publisher and with other members of the editorial board, Hans von Storch, Clare Goodess, and two more members of the journal's ten-member editorial board resigned in protest against what they felt was a failure of the peer review process on the part of the journal. Otto Kinne, managing director of the journal's parent company, eventually stated that "CR ["Climate Research"] should have been more careful and insisted on solid evidence and cautious formulations before publication" and that "CR should have requested appropriate revisions of the manuscript prior to publication."

Soon and Baliunas have also been criticised because they did not disclose that their research budget was funded in part by the American Petroleum Institute.

In 2011, it was revealed that Soon received over $1 million from petroleum and coal interests since 2001. Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics documents obtained by Greenpeace under the US Freedom of Information Act show that the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation gave Soon two grants totaling $175,000 in 2005–06 and again in 2010. Multiple grants from the American Petroleum Institute between 2001 and 2007 totalled $274,000, and grants from Exxon Mobil totalled $335,000 between 2005 and 2010. Other coal and oil industry sources which funded him include the Mobil Foundation, the Texaco Foundation and the Electric Power Research Institute. Soon has stated unequivocally that he has "never been motivated by financial reward in any of my scientific research" and "would have accepted money from Greenpeace if they had offered it to do my research."

Putting forward health reasons, in 2011 Soon went from full-time employment by the Smithsonian at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics to a part-time position. The Center's spokesman said "Willie's opinions regarding climate change are his personal views not shared within our research organization". Its former director Irwin Shapiro said no attempt had been made to suppress Soon's views, and there had been no complaints from other scientists there: "As far as I can tell, no one pays any attention to him." Soon has been defended by others agreeing with his views. In 2013, theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson wrote in an email to "The Boston Globe": "The whole point of science is to question accepted dogmas. For that reason, I respect Willie Soon as a good scientist and a courageous citizen." Republican Senator Jim Inhofe has cited Soon, and Inhofe's former director of communications Marc Morano said that "Willie Soon is a hero of the skeptical movement. When you are an early pioneer, you are going to face the scrutiny and attacks." Soon has links with conservative groups which promote his writings to influence the public debate on climate change, including The Heartland Institute, and the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow. In a speech at The Heritage Foundation, he accused the IPCC of being "a pure bully" engaged in "blatant manipulations of fact", and said "Stop politicizing science! Just stop!"

With William M. Briggs, geography professor David Legates, and journalist and British politician Christopher Monckton, Soon co-authored a paper published by the "Chinese Science Bulletin" in 2015. Climatologist Gavin Schmidt described the paper as "complete trash". He said that the model used is not new, "they arbitrarily restrict its parameters and then declare all other models wrong."

Soon, as a researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), is a part-time employee of the Smithsonian Institution, a government agency covered by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Greenpeace worker Kert Davies made a succession of FOIA requests for Soon's correspondence and grant arrangements and in 2014 was given documents disclosing arrangements both Soon and the CfA had with funders. Later in 2014, Davies left Greenpeace to become executive director of a newly founded non-profit, Climate Investigations Center.

The Smithsonian does not fund Soon, who "pursues external grants to fund his research." This funding had exceeded US$1.5 million since 2001; under standard CfA procedures, more than half of the $1.2 million funding since 2005 had gone towards the Smithsonian's facility operating costs, with the remainder being passed on to Soon as his salary. Other researchers there have a similar arrangement, but nearly all of their funding comes through peer-reviewed award processes from government bodies such as NASA and the National Science Foundation, whereas Soon has received very little federal money. Soon's funding is highly unusual at the Smithsonian in its association with private interests. It included at least $230,000 from the Charles G. Koch Foundation which is associated with the oil industry and $469,560 from the Southern Company which uses coal to generate electricity. Exxon Mobil and the American Petroleum Institute also provided funding, which was later replaced by anonymous donors through the Donors Trust, a donor-advised fund that offers anonymity to clients who do not wish to make their donations public. The latter was identified by a 2013 Drexel University study as the largest single provider of money to political efforts to fight climate-change policy. A 2008 contract agreed to by the CfA required the institute to notify the Southern Company before disclosing that Southern had provided funding, and both the CfA and Willie Soon to provide Southern with advance copies of any publications "for comment and input", though the company could not block publications or require changes.

The "Chinese Science Bulletin" has a strict policy requiring disclosure of "all relationships or interests that could influence or bias the work", including "professional interests or personal beliefs that may influence your research", for example previous receipt of research grants. The Monckton et al. paper published in January 2015 included a statement by the authors, including Soon, that they had no conflict of interest, and Davies wrote to the journal about the undisclosed funding shown by the documents. On 24 January the journal replied that they would "look into the matter as appropriate". The story was published by "The Boston Globe" on 26 January with a statement by Monckton that allegations of failure to disclose a material conflict of interest were untrue, as the authors had not "received any funding whatsoever for our research, which was conducted in our own time". He said that the Heartland Institute had provided funding to make the paper available to the public on the journal's website.

On February 21, publications including "The Guardian" and the "New York Times" reported that Soon had failed to disclose conflicts of interest in at least 11 papers since 2008, and alleged that Soon had violated ethical guidelines of at least 8 of those journals publishing his work. Charles R. Alcock, director of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, described the disclosure violations as "inappropriate behavior" that they would "have to handle with Dr. Soon internally". On the same day, "Nature" reported that the CfA had launched an investigation into whether Soon had properly reported the funding arrangements shown in the documents. Alcock said "We want to get the facts straight. If there is evidence of failure to disclose, yes, we have a problem." He said that the contract with Southern preventing disclosure of their funding "was a mistake", and in a later email reply to questions said "We will not permit similar wording in future grant agreements". The Smithsonian announced that its Inspector General would investigate, and in addition there was to be a full review of the Smithsonian's ethics and disclosure policies about sponsored research, led by former NSF director Rita R. Colwell.

On March 2, 2015, the Heartland Institute conservative think tank released a statement by Soon, which said he had "been the target of attacks in the press by various radical environmental and politically motivated groups". He described this as "a shameless attempt to silence my scientific research and writings, and to make an example out of me as a warning to any other researcher who may dare question in the slightest their fervently held orthodoxy of anthropogenic global warming." Some of the journals that had published Soon's work had begun reviewing the papers in relation to their policies requiring disclosure: Soon said he had "always complied with what I understood to be disclosure practices in my field generally". He would be "happy to comply" if they required further disclosure, and "would ask only that other authors—on all sides of the debate—are also required to make similar disclosures."

He also requested that journalists who had reported on his actions similarly examined disclosure by other scientists. An investigation by "InsideClimate News" could find no cases where mainstream climatologists had failed to disclose the funding of their research. Unlike Soon, who had approached private funders directly, their funding was almost entirely obtained through open competitive peer-reviewed applications to public bodies. Climate scientist Andrew Dessler said "People always acknowledge their grants, and that's not really an issue". Though it was almost certain that a disclosure issue could arise, intentionally or otherwise, no instances were known. The nearest case was raised by Steven Milloy's "Junk Science" blog when "Nature Climate Change" published a 2012 study by Kerry Emanuel, who was paid a fixed amount by two companies to sit on their board. Although the companies did not fund his research, the journal then added disclosure of these board memberships. The blog raised the same concern about a paper published a year later, but "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" decided this disclosure was not required.

In April 2015, a Southern Company spokesman said "Our agreement with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory expires later this year and there are no plans to renew it". It still required Soon to produce a study on "Solar Activity Variation on Multiple Timescales" by November 2015.

Willie Soon


What is the population of Mahwah, NJ?

Mahwah is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 25,890. The population increased by 1,828 (+7.6%) from the 24,062 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 6,157 (+34.4%) from the 17,905 counted in the 1990 Census. The name "Mahwah" is derived from the Lenape word ""mawewi"" which means "Meeting Place" or "Place Where Paths Meet".

Mahwah, New Jersey

The area that is now Mahwah was originally formed as Hohokus Township on April 9, 1849, from portions of Franklin Township (now Wyckoff). While known as Hohokus Township, territory was taken to form Orvil Township (on January 1, 1886; remainder of township is now Waldwick), Allendale (November 10, 1894), Upper Saddle River (November 22, 1894) and Ramsey (March 10, 1908). On November 7, 1944, the area was incorporated by an act of the New Jersey Legislature as the Township of Mahwah, based on the results of a referendum held that day, replacing Hohokus Township.

"New Jersey Monthly" magazine ranked Mahwah as its ninth best place to live in its 2008 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey.

The Lenape and ancestral indigenous peoples were the original inhabitants of Mahwah (the meeting place) and surrounding area. Their descendants have combined with other Native Americans and ethnicities and were recognized in 1980 by the state as the Ramapough Mountain Indians. They number approximately 5,000 people living around the Ramapo Mountains of northern New Jersey and southern New York. The tribe is officially recognized by New Jersey, but does not have federal recognition. Their tribal office is located on Stag Hill Road in Mahwah, and the Chief of the Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation is Dwaine Perry (as of March 2007).

In 1849, Hohokus Township was established from the northern part of Franklin Township in Bergen County. It extended from the Saddle River on the east to the western boundary of Bergen County with Passaic County and north to the New York border. Hohokus Township was first subdivided in 1886 with the creation of Orvil Township on both sides of the Saddle River, consisting of the eastern portion of Hohokus Township and the western portion of Washington Township. 1894's outbreak of "Boroughitis" brought the creation of the boroughs of Allendale and Upper Saddle River, both of which were created from portions of Hohokus and Orvil Townships. Next to leave was Ramsey, which was created in 1908.

Hohokus Township ceased to exist on November 7, 1944, when a referendum was passed creating Mahwah Township from the remaining portions of Hohokus Township.

For 25 years, beginning in 1976, Mahwah hosted the A&P Tennis Classic, a tune-up for the U.S. Open tennis tournament held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City's Flushing Meadows–Corona Park.

The 75-room, three-story Darlington, aka the Crocker Mansion, was built in 1901 for George Crocker, son of railroad magnate Charles Crocker. The estate, located at Crocker Mansion Drive, is one of New Jersey's historical landmarks.

Ford Motor Company operated the Mahwah Assembly plant from 1955, producing 6 million cars in the 25 years it operated before the last car rolled off the line on June 20, 1980. At the time of its completion, it was the largest motor vehicle assembly plant in the United States. The Ford plant, along with other businesses such as American Brake Shoe and Foundry Company, helped contribute to the economic development of the town and its reputation for low home property taxes. The Mahwah town sports teams remain named Thunderbirds in honor of the Ford plant.

Due to contractors' dumping of hazardous wastes at the Ringwood Mines landfill site before federal regulation, it has been designated as an EPA Superfund site which needs extensive environmental cleanup. In 2006, some 600 Ramapough Indians filed a mass tort claim against Ford for damages.

Mahwah, and the closure of the Ford plant, is mentioned in the opening line of the 1982 Bruce Springsteen song "Johnny 99".

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 26.191 square miles (67.835 km), including 25.693 square miles (66.545 km) of land and 0.498 square miles (1.290 km) of water (1.90%). It is the largest municipality in Bergen County by area, more than 2½ times larger than the next-largest municipality, Paramus, and covering 10.6% of the total area of the entire county.

Mahwah is near the Ramapo Mountains and the Ramapo River. Interstate 287 passes through Mahwah, but the only point of access is at the New Jersey–New York border, where 287 meets Route 17. U.S. Route 202 runs through Mahwah from Oakland to Suffern, across the state line.

Several state and county parks are located in Mahwah, including Campgaw Mountain Reservation, Darlington County Park and Ramapo Valley County Reservation, all operated by Bergen County. The Ramapo River runs through the western section of Mahwah.

Mahwah is bordered by the towns of Upper Saddle River, Ramsey, Allendale, Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes, and Oakland in Bergen County; Ringwood in Passaic County; and Airmont, Hillburn, Ramapo and Suffern in Rockland County, New York.

Unincorporated communities, localities, and place names located partially or completely within the township include the residential areas of Ackermans Mills, Bear Swamp, Bogerts Ranch Estates, Cragmere, Cragmere Park, Darlington, Fardale, Halifax, Havemeyers Reservoir, Masonicus, Mountainside Farm, Pulis Mills, Ramapo Farm and Wanamakers Mills, along with the mixed residential and commercial area of West Mahwah.

Mahwah has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification "Dfa").

Corporate residents of Mahwah include:Campgaw Mountain Reservation is a Bergen County accredited park, covering in Mahwah and portions of Oakland, that has campgrounds and ski slopes for skiing.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $92,971 (with a margin of error of +/- $5,209) and the median family income was $107,977 (+/- $7,049). Males had a median income of $85,873 (+/- $6,728) versus $54,111 (+/- $3,935) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $53,375 (+/- $3,851). About 2.2% of families and 3.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.7% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.

Same-sex couples headed 49 households in 2010, an increase from the 27 counted in 2000.

As of the 2000 United States Census there were 24,062 people, 9,340 households, and 6,285 families residing in the township. The population density was 927.9 people per square mile (358.3/km²). There were 9,577 housing units at an average density of 369.3 per square mile (142.6/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 87.93% White, 2.16% African American, 0.70% Native American, 6.31% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.50% from other races, and 1.38% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.27% of the population.

There were 9,340 households out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.8% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% were non-families. 28.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the township the population was spread out with 22.2% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 32.2% from 25 to 44, 25.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.4 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $79,500, and the median income for a family was $94,484. Males had a median income of $62,326 versus $42,527 for females. The per capita income for the township was $44,709. About 1.2% of families and 2.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.8% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.

Mahwah is governed within the Faulkner Act (formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law) under the Mayor-Council system of municipal government (Plan B), implemented by direct petition as of July 1, 1984. The governing body consists of a mayor and a seven-member Township Council, with all members elected at-large to four-year terms of office in non-partisan elections held as part of the November general election in even years, with either three seats (and the mayoral seat) or four seats up for vote. The legislative power of the municipality is exercised by a seven-member Township Council. In September 2010, the township council voted to shift the township's non-partisan elections from May to November, citing increased voter participation and prospective savings of $30,000 associated with supporting each election, with the first November election taking place in 2012.

, the Mayor of Mahwah is John Roth (2020). Mayor Roth was elected in November 2018 following a recall of the former mayor. Members of the Township Council are Council President David May (2020; elected to serve an unexpired term), Council Vice President George W. Ervin (2022), Janet Ariemma (2022), Robert M. Ferguson III (2022), Michelle Crowe Paz (2020; elected to serve an unexpired term) and James Wysocki (2020).

The previous mayor, Bill Laforet faced a recall election in November 2018, after a resident group submitted in June a list of 5,000 petition signatures that they had collected calling for the action, in excess of the 25% needed to place the measure in front of voters. In the November 2018 general election, Laforet was recalled from office and John Roth was elected mayor. The successful recall was the first in the county for at least 25 years.

Michelle Crowe Paz was appointed to fill the seat expiring in December 2020 that was vacated following the resignation of Steven Sbarra that became effective at the end of December 2017, and was elected in her own right in November 2018 to fill the unexpired term.

At the January 2017 reorganization meeting, David May was sworn in to fill the seat expiring in December 2020 that had been won by Jonathan Marcus in the November 2016 general election, but which Marcus decided not to accept; May was elected in his own right in the November 2017 general election, to serve the balance of the term.

In December 2016, the Township Council selected George Ervin to fill the seat that had been held by Mary Amoroso expiring in December 2018 that became vacant after she was elected the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders; Ervin served on an interim basis until the November 2017 general election, when voters elected him in his own right to fill the balance of the term. Ervin was re-elected in the November 2018 election to fill a full four-year term, expiring in 2022.

In August 1997, due to personal debt, then-Mayor David J. Dwork shot and killed himself in the town's mayoral offices. There were also unverified allegations of corruption. Dwork was memorialized with a tree dedicated to him at the site of the Mahwah Public Library. Dwork was succeeded by Richard J. Martel, then a township council member, who served for 14 years until his own death, of natural causes, on March 7, 2011. Martel himself was succeeded by Council President John DaPuzzo as acting mayor.

Mahwah is located in the 5th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 39th state legislative district. Prior to the 2011 reapportionment following the 2010 Census, Mahwah had been in the 40th state legislative district.

As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 15,168 registered voters in Mahwah Township, of which 3,410 (22.5% vs. 31.7% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 4,349 (28.7% vs. 21.1%) were registered as Republicans and 7,399 (48.8% vs. 47.1%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 10 voters registered to other parties. Among the township's 2010 Census population, 58.6% (vs. 57.1% in Bergen County) were registered to vote, including 73.1% of those ages 18 and over (vs. 73.7% countywide).

In the 2012 presidential election, Republican Mitt Romney received 6,862 votes (56.2% vs. 43.5% countywide), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 5,143 votes (42.1% vs. 54.8%) and other candidates with 99 votes (0.8% vs. 0.9%), among the 12,203 ballots cast by the township's 16,357 registered voters, for a turnout of 74.6% (vs. 70.4% in Bergen County). In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain received 6,768 votes (54.3% vs. 44.5% countywide), ahead of Democrat Barack Obama with 5,501 votes (44.2% vs. 53.9%) and other candidates with 100 votes (0.8% vs. 0.8%), among the 12,457 ballots cast by the township's 15,705 registered voters, for a turnout of 79.3% (vs. 76.8% in Bergen County). In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 6,829 votes (58.1% vs. 47.2% countywide), ahead of Democrat John Kerry with 4,829 votes (41.1% vs. 51.7%) and other candidates with 67 votes (0.6% vs. 0.7%), among the 11,758 ballots cast by the township's 14,759 registered voters, for a turnout of 79.7% (vs. 76.9% in the whole county).

In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 70.4% of the vote (5,115 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 28.5% (2,070 votes), and other candidates with 1.1% (79 votes), among the 7,391 ballots cast by the township's 15,601 registered voters (127 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 47.4%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 4,602 votes (57.4% vs. 45.8% countywide), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 2,942 votes (36.7% vs. 48.0%), Independent Chris Daggett with 404 votes (5.0% vs. 4.7%) and other candidates with 34 votes (0.4% vs. 0.5%), among the 8,018 ballots cast by the township's 15,479 registered voters, yielding a 51.8% turnout (vs. 50.0% in the county).
In the 2016 presidential election, Republican Donald Trump received 53.5% of the vote for a total of 6,366 votes ahead of Democrat Hillary Clinton, who received 42.5% of the vote for a total of 5,049 votes. Other 3rd party candidates received a collective vote of 372, accounting for the remaining 3.1%

The Mahwah Township Public Schools provides public education for students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. As of the 2014-15 school year, the district and its six schools had an enrollment of 3,160 students and 268.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.8:1. Schools in the district (with 2014-15 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are
Lenape Meadows Elementary School (234 students; in grades PreK-3),
Betsy Ross Elementary School (478; K-3),
George Washington Elementary School (178; K-3),
Joyce Kilmer Elementary School (442; 4-5),
Ramapo Ridge Middle School (753; 6-8) and
Mahwah High School (968; 9-12).

The district's newest building, Lenape Meadows, was opened in 2002 and changed the way the district divided up grade levels. Since the K-3 grades are broken up by location in the township which determines the elementary school to attend, before Lenape Meadows was built, students of that section of town attended Commodore Perry School. Commodore Perry School, Betsy Ross, and George Washington originally only housed the K-2 grades and the entire 3rd grade class attended Joyce Kilmer. The construction of Lenape Meadows added enough room for 3rd grade students as well, allowing Betsy Ross and George Washington room to house their students for 3rd grade, too.

Public school students from the township, and all of Bergen County, are eligible to attend the secondary education programs offered by the Bergen County Technical Schools, which include the Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, and the Bergen Tech campus in Teterboro or Paramus. The district offers programs on a shared-time or full-time basis, with admission based on a selective application process and tuition covered by the student's home school district.

Young World Day School serves students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade using Montessori and traditional educational methods.
, the township had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Bergen County and by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Interstate 287 and Route 17 merge in Mahwah, and U.S. Route 202 also passes through. The northern terminus of County Route 507 is also in Mahwah. Interstate 87, the New York Thruway, is just outside the state in Suffern, New York.

Interstate 287 heads north from Franklin Lakes, continuing for to the New York State border. U.S. Route 202 heads north for, running from Oakland to the New York State border.

Route 17 extends from Ramsey until it forms a concurrency where it merges with Interstate 287. County Route 507 runs across the northeastern portion of the township, from Ramsey to an intersection with U.S. Route 202 near the state line.
NJ Transit rail service is available from the Mahwah station to Secaucus Junction, Hoboken Terminal, and Newark on the Main Line and Bergen County Line. Passengers may also take advantage of express service on the same line from the Suffern station, just across the New York state line.

Short Line Bus offers service to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan and intermediate locations.

People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Mahwah include:


When was Niger founded?

Niger or Niger State is a state in Central Nigeria and the largest state in the country. The state capital is Minna, and other major cities are Bida, Kontagora, and Suleja. It was formed in 1976 when the then North-Western State was bifurcated into Niger State and Sokoto State. It is home to Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar, two of Nigeria's former military rulers. The Nupe, Gbagyi, Kamuku, Kambari, Dukawa, Hausa and Koro form the majority of numerous indigenous tribes of Niger State.

Niger State

The state is named after the River Niger. Two of Nigeria's major hydroelectric power stations, the Kainji Dam and the Shiroro Dam, are located in Niger State, The famous Gurara Falls is in Niger State, and Gurara Local Government Area is named after the Gurara River, on whose course the fall is situated. Also situated there is Kainji National Park, the largest National Park of Nigeria, which contains Kainji Lake, the Borgu Game Reserve and the Zugurma Game Reserve.

Like the majority of Nigerian states, it is governed by a Governor and a state House of Assembly. Under the current administration of Abubakar Sani Bello.

Niger State consists of 25 local government areas. They are:


Who invented the first audio recording device?

Thomas A. Edison invented the phonograph, the first device for recording and playing back sound, in 1877. After patenting the invention and benefiting from the publicity and acclaim it received, Edison and his laboratory turned their attention to the commercial development of electric lighting, playing no further role in the development of the phonograph for nearly a decade. Edison's original phonograph recorded on sheets of tinfoil and was little more than a crude curiosity, although one that fascinated much of the public. These earliest phonographs were sold mainly to entrepreneurs who made a living out of traveling around the country giving "educational" lectures in hired halls or otherwise demonstrating the device to audiences for a fee. The tinfoil phonograph was not fit for any real practical use and public interest soon waned.

Edison Records

Edison Records was one of the earliest record labels which pioneered sound recording and reproduction and was an important player in the early recording industry.

The first phonograph cylinders were manufactured in 1888, followed by Edison's foundation of the Edison Phonograph Company in the same year. The recorded wax cylinders, later replaced by Blue Amberol cylinders, and vertical-cut Diamond Discs, were manufactured by Edison's National Phonograph Company from 1896 on, reorganized as Thomas A. Edison, Inc. in 1911. Until 1910 the recordings did not carry the names of the artists. The company began to lag behind its rivals in the 1920s, both technically and in the popularity of its artists, and halted production of recordings in 1929.

In 1887, Edison turned his attention back to improving the phonograph and the phonograph cylinder. The following year, the Edison company debuted the "Perfected Phonograph." Edison introduced wax cylinders approximately long and in external diameter, which became the industry standard. They had a maximum playing time of about 3 minutes at 120 RPM, but around the turn of the century the standard speed was increased to 160 RPM to improve clarity and volume, reducing the maximum to about 2 minutes and 15 seconds. Several experimental wax cylinder recordings of music and speech made in 1888 still exist.

The wax entertainment cylinder made its commercial debut in 1889 (a relatively well-preserved and freely available example from that year is the "Fifth Regiment March", played by Issler's Orchestra). At first, the only customers were entrepreneurs who installed nickel-in-the-slot phonographs in amusement arcades, saloons and other public places. At that time, a phonograph cost the equivalent of several months' wages for the average worker and was driven by an electric motor powered by hazardous, high-maintenance wet cell batteries. After more affordable spring-motor-driven phonographs designed for home use were introduced in 1895, the industry of producing recorded entertainment cylinders for sale to the general public began in earnest.

Blank records were an important part of the business early on. Most phonographs had or could be fitted with attachments for the users to make their own recordings. One important early use, in line with the original term for a phonograph as a "talking machine", was in business for recording dictation. Attachments were added to facilitate starting, stopping, and skipping back the recording for dictation and playback by stenographers. The business phonograph eventually evolved into a separate device from the home entertainment phonograph. Edison's brand of business phonograph was called "The Ediphone"; see Phonograph cylinder and Dictaphone. Edison also holds the achievement of being one of the first companies to record the first African-American quartet to record: the Unique Quartet.

A notable technological triumph of the Edison Laboratories was devising a method to mass-produce pre-recorded phonograph cylinders in molds. This was done by using very slightly tapered cylinders and molding in a material that contracted as it set. To Edison's disappointment the commercial potential of this process was not realized for some years. Most of the regional Edison distributors were able to fill the small early market for recordings by mechanical duplication of a few dozen cylinders at a time. Molded cylinders did not become a significant force in the marketplace until the end of the 1890s, which was when molding was slow and was used only to create pantograph masters.

Before using metal cylinders though Edison used paraffin paper. Mass-producing cylinders at the Edison recording studio in New Jersey largely ended the local Edison retailers early practice of producing recordings in small numbers for regional markets, and helped concentrate the USA recording industry in the New York City – New Jersey area, already the headquarters of the nation's Tin Pan Alley printed music industry.

In 1902, Edison's National Phonograph Company introduced Edison Gold Moulded Records, cylinder records of improved hard black wax, capable of being played hundreds of times before wearing out. These new records were under the working title of "Edison Hi-Speed Extra Loud Moulded Records", running at the speed of 160 RPM instead of the usual (ca. 1898–1902) speed of 144 RPM or (ca. 1889–1897) 120 RPM. Until ca. 1898, Edison's speed was 125 RPM.

In 1908, Edison introduced a new line of cylinders (called Amberol) playing 4 rather than 2 minutes of music on the same sized record, achieved by shrinking the grooves and spacing them twice as close together. New machines were sold to play these records, as were attachments for modifying existing Edison phonographs.

In November 1912, the new Blue Amberol Records, made out of a type of smooth, hard plastic similar to celluloid invented by Edison labs, were introduced for public sale. The first release was number 1501, a performance of the Rossini's overture to his opera "Semiramide", performed by the American Standard Orchestra. The plastic Blue Amberol records were much more durable than wax cylinders. The Edison lab claimed a 3000+ playback quota for the Blue Amberol. In that same year, the Edison Disc Record came out.

In 1910, artists' names began to be added to the records; previously, Edison's policy was to promote his cylinders (and up until 1915, discs) based on the recognition of composers and the works recorded theron in lieu of the performers themselves.

Thomas A. Edison, Inc., successor to the National Phonograph Company, continued selling cylinders until they went out of the record business in November, 1929. However, from January 1915 onwards the first of the that were Blue Amberols dubbed from Edison's Diamond Disc matrixes, appeared on the market. By 1919, the last decade of production, these were simply dubs of their commercial disc records intended for customers who still used cylinder phonographs purchased years before.

Cylinders that are mentioned from 1888 are sometimes called "yellow paraffin" cylinders, but these cylinders are not paraffin, which is a soft oily wax and does not hold up under many plays. They could be a number of formulas tested by Jonas Aylsworth, Thomas Edison's chemist. Most of the surviving 1888 recordings would be formulated from a combination of ceresin wax, carnauba wax, stearic acid, and beeswax. A record of this kind has a cigar-like smell and is physically very soft when first molded. In a year's time, the record would harden quite considerably. To play these first cylinders, the model B reproducer must be used. The other later reproducers (such as C) were only designed for the harder black "wax" records. A later reproducer would shave down the grooves very fast, and the sound would be lost forever.

In late 1888, metallic soaps were tried. At first, a lead stearate was used, but in the summer months, these records started to sweat and decompose. In 1889, Aylsworth developed an aluminum wax, using acetate of alumina and stearic acid with sodium hydroxide added as a saponifying agent. It was found these records were much more durable. Problems arose, however, since there was no tempering agent and hot weather caused these records to decompose. Two problems contributed to this, stearic quality varied from different makers; Aylsworth purchased some from P&G and found it had too much olaic acid in it. The next cause of the problem is that all stearic acid without a tempering agent takes on moisture, and after many experiments, it was found that Ceresine was ideal. To make the wax hard, sodium carbonate was added. Even so, a few batches of records still had some problems and became fogged. The fog problem arose from acetic acid left in the wax; this problem was solved when higher temperatures were used to make sure all the acetic acid was boiled out of the wax. As such, the records from 1889 to 1894 are a reddish-brown color due to the long cooking time. By 1896, Edison started using hydrated alumina in place of acetate of alumina. The use of hydrated alumina (sheet aluminum dissolved in a mixture of sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, and distilled water) made better records, and the wax could be manufactured in a shorter period of time. Using the hydrated aluminum resulted in more desirable blanks, with fewer defects and shorter production time.

The Columbia Phonograph Company used Edison recording blanks until 1894. The North American Phonograph Company was dissolved in the fall of 1894, and Edison quit supplying blanks to Columbia, who had purchased 70,000 blanks from 1889 to 1894. Columbia was frantic to find a solution to make cylinder blanks in-house, and the recipe for making Edison's wax was a well-kept secret. Thomas McDonald started doing experiments with wax alloys with poor results: the records fogged or decomposed in the summer, just like the early Edison blanks. The Columbia company had a deadline to either supply recordings, or have their contracts canceled and be sued for loss of records. Columbia resorted to attempting to steal secrets from Edison company by hiring old Edison Phonograph Works employees, such as Mr. Storms. Unfortunately for Columbia, the names of the components used by Edison were not labeled with ingredients but were instead indicated by number (i.e. 1,2,3 keeping the identities of these components a secret.) Paraffin, ceresine, and ozokerite all look similar, making the tempering agent even more difficult to be identified by the wax mixer. Wax mixers were given instructions on how much of the numbered components to put in the mixture, and how to process it, but no idea as to what the ingredients actually were. It took over a year for Columbia to come up with the formula for cylinders. Columbia placed an ad in the Soap Makers' Journal for a practical man to work with metallic soaps. Adolph Melzer, a soap manufacturer from Evansville, Indiana took the job. Melzer came up with a formula comparable to Edison's with the exception of the tempering agent (using cocinic acid, derived from coconut oil.)

In 1901 The Gold Molded (originally spelled Moulded) process was perfected for commercial use by Thomas Edison and Jonas Aylsworth (Edison's Chemist) with input from Walter Miller, the Recording Manager of Edison Records. This discussion was gleaned from facts provided by Walter Miller, Jonas Aylsworth, Thomas Edison, Adolphe Melzer, and Charles Wurth.

At first, no method of mass production was available for cylinder records. Copies were made by having the artist play over and over or by hooking two machines together with rubber tubing (one with a master cylinder and the other a blank) or copying the sound mechanically. By the late 1890s, an improved mechanical duplicator, the pantograph, was developed which used mechanical linkage. One mandrel had a playback stylus and the other a recording one, while weights and springs were used to adjust the tension between the styli to control recording volume and tracking.
The Edison team had experimented with Vacuum Deposited Gold masters as early as 1888, and it has been reported that some brown wax records certainly were molded, although it seems nobody has found these, in recent years, or can identify them. The Edison Record, "Fisher Maiden", was an early record that was experimented with for the process. The 1888 experiments were not very successful due to the fact the grooves of the cylinders were square, and the sound waves were saw-tooth-shaped and deep. The records came out scratched and it was very time-consuming. Many failures and very few that come out.

The Gold Molded process involved taking a wax master and putting it in a vacuum chamber. The master record was put on a spinning mandrel, the pump sucked all the air out of a glass bell jar, and 2 pieces of gold leaf were hooked to an induction coil. The current was turned on, a magnet was spun around the outside to turn the mandrel, and the gold vaporized a very thin coating on the master. This master was put on a motor in a plating tank and copper was used to back the gold up. The master record was melted, then taken out of the mold to reveal a negative of the grooves in the metal. The master cylinder had to have the wider feed as the grooves shrink in length through each process. The master mold is used to create "mothers" and these are then further processed to make working molds.

The Gold molded record used an aluminum-based wax, like the post-1896 Edison brown wax. However, carnauba wax was added, as well as pine tar and lampblack resulting in a black, shiny, durable record. The molds with mandrels placed in the center were heated and dipped in a tank of the molten wax. These were removed and trimmed while still hot and put on a table from where the molds were put in lukewarm water. The water caused the records to shrink in diameter so that they could be removed. The records were then trimmed, dried and cleaned, then later put on warm mandrels for 2 hours where they shrank evenly. Jonas Aylsworth developed this formula.

In 1908, Edison introduced Amberol Records which had a playing time of just over 4 minutes. The process of making the finished record was the same as the Gold Molded records, however, a harder wax compound was used. In 1912, celluloid was used in place of wax, and the name was changed to Blue Amberol, as the dye was a blue color. The master was recorded and then the process of making the mold was the same as the Gold Molded process. What is different is that a steam jacketed mold with an air bladder in the center was used. Celluloid tubing was put in the mold and the end gate was closed. The rubber bladder expanded the celluloid to the side of the heated mold and printed the negative record in positive on the celluloid. The bladder was then deflated, and cold air was used to shrink the tubing so the celluloid print could be removed. The printed tubing was put in a plaster filler. When the plaster was hard the cylinders were then baked in an oven, then the ribs made on the inside of the plaster with knives. The records were cleaned and then packaged.

Ediphone Wax Formula and Procedure for making Ediphone Cylinders
Noted C.H. 11/21/1946

1. 1,200  lbs of double pressed stearic acid (130 °F. Titer) and 4  lbs of nigrosine base B dye are placed in a 200-gallon cast iron cauldron. The cauldron is directly heated by an oil burner of the household type. (Our Present ones are Eisler, the manufacture of which has been discontinued.) Heat is applied until the stearic acid has been melted and the temperature has reached 360 °F.
2. 2,000  grams of metallic aluminum are placed in a 75-gallon steam-jacketed open kettle. To this are added 7,000  grams of NaOH and 10 gallons of water. When the reaction has subsided, 92  lbs of anhydrous sodium carbonate are added and finally 50 gallons of water. Note: The aluminum scrap is usually obtained from the Storage Battery Division in the form of punched strips. It is important that the size and thickness of this material be such as to ensure a fairly rapid rate of solution. All of this reaction takes place under a hood.
An alternative method consists of dissolving 8,900  grams of sodium aluminate in about 10 gallons of water and adding 5,000  grams of NaOH pellets. When the complete solution has taken place, 92  lbs of anhydrous sodium carbonate are added and the necessary amount of water to bring the bulk up to 60 gallons.

In both cases solution is affected by means of pressure steam in the jacketed portion of the kettle. When the solution is substantially clear it is slowly added, a pail at a time (3 gallons) by means of a 2-quart dipper, to the heated stearic acid as prepared in 1. The oil burner is kept on during this operation in order to keep the temperature of the mixture fairly constant at. Care must be exercised in adding this "Saponifying" solution so that excess foaming is prevented. After all the solution has been added the resulting "formula wax" is heated to. and maintained at this temperature for four hours, at which time a sample is removed, a congealing point determined, (see under "tests"), and any addition made of stearic acid or sodium carbonate solution for correction, and the mixture held without additional heat for 10 hours. It is then heated again to bring the temperature up to and allowed to cool gradually, usually overnight. When the temperature has again been reduced to the wax is pumped by means of a Kinney pump into 10-gallon pails from which the wax is poured into shallow pans containing approximately 50  lbs of the wax per pan. After the material has cooled to room temperature it is removed from the pans and stacked.
3. Into a 200-gallon cast iron cauldron heated by an oil burner of the household type, (or as required at present by war conditions, heated by bituminous coal) are placed 500 to 900 labs of "formula wax". Note: The amount of "formula wax" to make up a batch various according to the amount of scrap wax which is to be added to the cauldron. Scrap wax represents commercial wax of which "formula wax" is a part. To the amount of "formula wax placed in the cauldron are added 19½% Paraffin (133 degrees-135 °F., usual source Standard Oil of New Jersey) and 2% stearine pitch (M. P. 40 Degrees Celsius). This mixture, consisting of "formula wax", paraffin and stearine pitch, represents commercial wax. Finally, commercial scrap wax of the composition given above in added until the total weight of the mixture is approximately 1,600  lbs. This mixture is usually heated beginning at 12 midnight and carried through until the temperature is 410-415 °F. at 8 am. Note; This may be regarded as standard procedure, although at the present time (Dec. 1943) this has been modified so that only Sunday nights is this done. On other days of the week except for Saturday the kettles are started at 6 am. This method was adopted due to man shortages which necessitated starting the molding operation later in the day.) At this time a congealing point is taken and the necessary adjustments made (see under "tests") after which the mixture is transferred to a closed agitating tank by means of a Kinney pump, the latter forced the hot material through a 2" pipe.
4. To the mixture in the agitation tank, there is added 3/10 percent Johns-Manville # 503 Filter Aid. The temperature is maintained at. by means of a ring gas burner, at the bottom of the tank. At this temperature the wax is supplied by a Worthington pump at 30  lbs to a one square foot Shriver press whose head and follower are steam jacketed and which has 7 sections. The effluent from this press passes through a second Shriver press which has 2 sections of one square foot each. The mixture from the outlet here finally passes through a 1" pipe which has a 100 × 150 mesh Monel, metal screen held in its cross sections by means of a union, into one of four 75 gallon aluminum kettles. These kettles are protected by conical hoods to prevent dust particles being carried into the body of the wax. After allowing the wax to remain at. for three hours it is ready to be poured into the blank molds. The temperature is maintained by gas burners beneath the kettles and controlled automatically by Partlow Corp. thermostatic controls.
5. By means of a pot with 2 spouts, the molds are filled with molten wax. The pot has a capacity of about five pounds (slightly less than 2 quarts and is specially designed of aluminum and made by Theodore Walter, Newark N.J... The molding table revolves at the rate of 6 blanks per minute, approximately, and the size of the pouring pot spout is only sufficient to permit the hot wax to flow into the molds at a rate slightly faster than the speed of the molds which rotate past a given point around the table.
The blanks are extracted at a temperature of 200-205 °F. and place on boards which hold 30 blanks. These boards when filled move by gravity down a conveyor. The length of time on the conveyor is about two hours after which time they are sufficiently cool and hard to be put into production boxes holding 63 blanks. The boxes are placed in racks for the following day's production. Into each production box, a semi-finished cylinder, which has been edged and reamed and which conforms to a standard internal diameter at of 1.826 " at the thin end, is placed. The purpose of this is to permit the edging operation to take place on the un-finished blank at any temperature by adjusting the machine to conform to the standard. Thus, in each production box, there is a total of 63 unfinished cylinders. One day's production is held at least 34 hours before further processing.

6. The blanks are first reamed. The reamer consists of a twisted tapered and eight fluted tool. The blanks are forced on the reamer by hand to a stop. The position of the stop is adjusted so that sufficient material will be removed from both ends of the blanks when the blank is edged in the next operation. The reamer revolves at approximately 300 RPM.

7. The edging operation consists in placing a reamed blank on a tapered mandrel and by means of two special cutters working in unison the ends of the blank are formed to conform in couture to a standard template. A second gauge is used to ensure proper length (6⅛"). In each case, the edged blank must rest on a tapered mandrel gauge in exactly the same position as the standard blank which is in the production box. The usual procedure is to make the necessary adjustments of the knives of the first blank which is edged so that it conforms to the standard, and then continue the operation on the rest of the blanks in the production box at the identical position of the first blank. Note; since there are 63 blanks for each standard blank it will be observed that every 63rd cylinder is checked mandrel gauge. The accuracy of the method and the facility with which it is done depending on the care and skill of the operator. This is the most critical of all the operations. The edging machine revolves at 2,200 RPM.

8. Following the edging operation is the stamping. This consists in applying a hot printing die to the thick end of the cylinder as it is placed accurately in a vertical position under the die. The heating of the die is done by means of a resistance wire coiled within a hollow torus near the under edge of the circular die. The coiled wire is connected to a source of current and the latter is adjusted by means of a rheostat. The heated died has raised lettering and makes an impression on the end surface of the wax cylinder. The depressed positive lettering on the cylinder is filled with a thick paste of zinc carbonate, the excess of which is brushed or wiped off after drying.
9. The cylinders are next shaved on a ganged shaving machine consisting of a rough shaving knife free from "blinds" and "lines", accurate concentricity and a minimum of taper. These factors depend on the tension of the driving belt, tension upon the rotating mandrel between centers and the position and sharpness of the knives. The speed of the mandrel is around 2,200 RPM.

10. The finished cylinders are placed in boxes which contain 16 pegs and run down a conveyor. At a point on this conveyor, the cylinders are held and brushed on the inside to remove wax shavings and dust.
11. Cylinders are inspected, packed and placed in the stock room for a minimum of thirty days before shipping.
12. The reinforcing liners are made as follows: Crinoline cloth of specifications given under "Tests", are cut into a trapezoid (Paper Products Dept.) base length 6¼, altitude 5⅝" top length 5¾". A pack of these are placed in a vise edgewise and thinned glue, one part Le Pages Glue, one part water, brushed onto one slant edge. A liner is then wrapped a tapered mandrel of such size as to fit no too snugly on the molding core. The liner is held on the mandrel by means of two jaws actuated by a foot lever and the lapped edges of the liner glued by means of a gas iron held for an instant along the line of the lap.

J.W. Nell
December 8, 1943

In October 1912 the Edison Diamond Disc Record was introduced. Edison Laboratories had been experimenting with disc records for some 3 years, as the general public seemed to prefer them to cylinders. The thick Edison Discs recorded the sound vertically in the groove at a rate of 150 grooves-per-inch (GPI) rather than the typical laterally-cut groove of around 100 GPI, which gave 10-inch Edison discs a longer playing time (up to five minutes) than laterals and could only be played to their full advantage on Edison Diamond Disc Phonographs. This combination produced audio fidelity superior to any other home record playing system of the time. However, Edison Discs and phonographs were more expensive than their competitors'. This, together with the incompatibility of the Edison system with other discs and machines, had an adverse effect on Edison's market share. Nonetheless, Edison Discs for a time became the third best selling brand in the United States, behind Victor and Columbia Records.
With World War I various materials used in Edison Discs came in short supply, and many discs pressed during the war were made hastily and with inferior materials, notably a reformulated phenolic finishing varnish that was introduced when European chemical supplies were cut off. This resulted in problems with surface noise even on new records, and Edison's market share shrank.

Prior to the war Edison Records started a marketing campaign, hiring prominent singers and vaudeville performers to perform alongside and alternating with Edison records of their performances played on top-of-the-line "Laboratory Model" Edison Diamond Disc Phonographs. At various stages during the performances, all lights in the theater would be darkened and the audience challenged to guess if what they were hearing was live or recorded; accounts often said that much of the audience was astonished when the lights went back up to reveal only the Edison Phonograph on stage. According to a book published by the Edison company titled "Composers and Artists whose Art is Re-Created by Edison's New Art" (ca. 1920), the first such comparison test or "tone test" as Edison copywriters referred to them, took place at Carnegie Hall on April 28, 1916 with Marie Rappold of the Metropolitan Opera providing the live vocal performance.

After the war, disc quality improved substantially as better quality ingredients became available again, and in the brief postwar boom Edison regained status in the industry. Sales for Edison discs peaked in 1920, but declined incrementally thereafter. In 1926, an attempt at reviving interest in the Edison Disc was with a 450-GPI long-playing disc, acoustically recorded and still spinning at 80 rpm, with times of 24 minutes per 10-inch disc and 40 for a 12-inch disc, but problems occurred (notably with broken groove walls and overall low volume, often only 40% of that of the regular discs), and the disc failed. In August 1927, discs began to be electrically recorded, making Edison the last major label to adopt electrical recording (over two years after Victor, Columbia, and Brunswick had converted from acoustical recording). Concurrently, Edison tried to freshen its catalogues by recording popular dance bands such as those of B. A. Rolfe and Harry Reser (whose "Six Jumping Jacks" group appeared on Edison as "Earl Oliver's Jazz Babies"), the Goldman Band conducted by founder Edwin Franko Goldman, jazz performers Eva Taylor and Clarence Williams, and radio personalities like Vaughn De Leath and "The Radio Franks" (Frank Bessinger and Frank Wright). Classical performers who became Edison artists in the late 1920s included pianists E. Robert Schmitz and Moriz Rosenthal, violinists Arcadie Birkenholz and Erna Rubinstein, the Roth Quartet, tenors José Mojica and Giovanni Martinelli, and baritone Mario Basiola. Despite these efforts and constant experimentation at the Edison plant and their New York studio (including moving from 79 Fifth Avenue to more modern premises at 261 Fifth Avenue in early 1929), record sales and morale continued to drop – in fact, one Edison executive later asserted that Edison discs had lost money from the beginning – and although Edison Diamond Discs were available from dealers until the company left the record business in late October 1929, the last vertically-cut direct masters were recorded in the early summer of that year.

In 1928 the Edison company began plans for making "Needle Cut" records; by which they meant standard lateral cut discs like the "78s" marketed by almost every other company of the time. The first "Needle Cut" discs were released in August 1929, and were issued at a rate of only a few new titles at a time each week for ten weeks before the company ceased record sales. Though hundreds of master recordings had been made towards a major release effort, only about 100 titles ever commercially appeared. The audio fidelity was often comparable to the best of other record companies of the time, but they sold poorly not only because Edison's market share had declined to the point where it was no longer one of the leading companies and Edison had few distributors compared to leaders like Victor, Columbia, and Brunswick, but also because their brief existence did not allow them to establish any kind of market presence. (Another factor that probably limited sales was Edison's conservative musical taste and that they had not attempted to sign any popular performers. There was very little jazz or blues issued on Edison.)

After Edison Records closed down in October 1929, many of the employees were transferred to manufacturing radios. Edison's metal masters, including many unissued experimental recordings, were purchased by Henry Ford, and became part of the collection of the Henry Ford Museum. They were recently deaccessioned by the museum and sent to the Edison Historic Site (National Park Service) in New Jersey. Some of the Edison catalogue is in the public domain and available for download at the Library of Congress website.