This folder contains unsolicited correspondence from inventors and others asking for Edison's advice on technical matters or his assistance in improving or promoting inventions. Included are comments by Edison regarding the profits earned by inventors and remarks concerning specific technologies or scientific phenomena such as static and atmospheric electricity. Also included are comments about the work of Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius and German physicist Hermann von Helmholtz. Some of the letters pertain to consumer demand for refrigeration and, in the aftermath of the 1912 Titanic disaster, methods for detecting icebergs in sea water.

Less than 5 percent of the documents have been selected. The unselected items received a perfunctory reply or no answer from Edison.