I had to check みせる and have never seen it before. But it immediately makes sense, I love it!
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My version of p.21, very similar to the others posted here. However just after these few pages I’m already getting a much better grasp of Japanese sentence structure so todays page was not at all as much of a struggle as the others have been, so excited to keep going!
Thank you guys for already clearing up ～みせる btw, very helpfull!
ところが 同じ ころ、ベルと いう 発明家が 電話を かんせいさせ、先を こされてしまいました。
However, around the same time, an inventor named Bell had finished a telephone and ended up beating him to it.
エジソンは、言いました。
Edison said.
「くやしなあ。それじゃ ぼくは、もっと べんりで、おもしろい ものを 作ってみせるぞ」
If that’s the case. Well then, I will make sure to make an even more convenient and interesting thing!
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Page 21. I read させ as being the stem form of させる, which is the causative form of する. The causative form means “to make someone do something” or “to let someone do something”. But I didn’t understand what nuance this adds to the sentence. It could perhaps just be written as かんせいした. Any thoughts?
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OK, I had to research this for a bit, and here is my theory: It is used to turn the intransitive verb 完成する into the transitive verb 完成させる。
Here is why I think so:
Exhibit A) We have the particle を in 電話を かんせいさせる.
Exhibit B) I searched for 完成 in a J-J dictionary and I got the example sencence 新校舎が完成する - the new school house is completed - from the が particle I’m leaning towards thinking that 完成する is intransitive.
Exhibit C) https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-grammar/japanese-causative-form/ : Pretty far into their explanations they state “Even if intransitive verbs don’t have their counterparts in transitive verbs, you can express similar things by using the causative form.” and present two examples that feature the same が → を shift.
So I think that in our sentence it simply means that he completed the telephone. 
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p. 22
my translation
こうして生まれたのが、音を記録して残すことができる「蓄音機」です。
This was the birth of the “phonograph”, which can record and preserve sound.
here are two links for the picture on this page:
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That is a very interesting answer, thank you. What you say makes sense, and I see it fits with how 完成 is used in the example sentences on Wanikani (hidden below).
I guess a slightly different way of looking at it would be to say that 完成する means “to be completed” and 完成させる means “to make something be completed” (or simply “to complete”).
Example sentences
トーフグはこの数日間で、かなりのりょうを完成させた。
Tofugu has accomplished a great deal in the last few days.
我々の新しい日本語学習アプリは、あと一ヶ月程で完成します。
Our new Japanese learning app will be completed in a month or so.
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Love the Japanese version!
Can I share some links too? The first video shows a phonograph exactly like the one in our picture. In the second video he has a replica of an early phonograph, and uses it to show how the sound recording and playback actually works (he starts his recording at 3:20 on the video).
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I like the second one with the demonstration. But what is worth the second kidney? 
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Wow, its so much sadder in Japanese!
p. 23
my translation
エジソンが、三十歳のときの発明でした。
Edison was 36 when the invention was made.
このころエジソンは、長年の疲れで、体を壊してしまいました。
About that time, Edison had been worn out for many years and eventually had harmed his health.
そうで、少し休みを取ろうと、山に出かけました。
So he took a small break and went to the mountains.
「山の夜は真っ暗だな。
“Nights in the mountain are pitch black.
夜が昼のように明るくなったら、どうだろう……そうだ！
What if the night would become as bright as daytime … yes!
電気で光るランプがあれば、暮らしは便利になるぞ。」
If we had lamps that glow with electricity, life would become more convenient.”
これが、『電球』の発明の始まりでした。
This was at the origin of the invention of the “light bulb”.
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translation p 23
It was an inventon Edion made when he was thirty years old.
These days Edison finally felt the fatigue of many years and his body was harmed.
Therefore he planned to take a little break and left for the mountains.
„Nighttime in the mountains is pitch dark. If the night became as bright as the day, how would that be … That’s it! If there were lamps that shine with electricity, living would become convenient.“
This was the beginning of the invention of the „light bulb“.
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I like the way you’ve incorporated the volitional form in this translation.
I think a bit or artistic licence on behalf of the story teller at this point! According to Wikipedia: Historians Robert Friedel and Paul Israel list 22 inventors of incandescent lamps prior to Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison.
So as nice as it sounds that Edison had a “Eureka” moment on a dark night in the mountains, I suspect this bit of the story is a bit overstretched.
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Of course, nobody was singing on page 20. But this is what made me confused:
驚く - おどるく - to be surprised
踊る - おどる - to dance
Dancing & singing - go next to each other in my confused memory 
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To be honest I’m not really sure what to make of this volitional+と here and just thought of it being a shortened version of volitional+と思う. Does that make sense? 
It’s the quotation particle: „I‘ll take a short break“ [he said and] left for the mountains.
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Hmm, but the quotation particle does not imply that something was said, right? To me thinking would make more sense here.
p 23, from me
エジソンが、三十さいの ときの 発明でした。
1.When he was 30 years old Edison invented it.
このころ エジソンは、長年の つかれで、体を こわしてしまいました。
At this time Edison spent a long time being fatigued and ended up harming his body
そこで、 少し 休みを とこうと、 山に 出かけました。
Therefore, he planned a trip to rest up a little, he went to the mountains
「山の 夜は まっくらだな。夜が 昼のように 明るくなったら、どうだろう……そうだ！
“The mountains at night are pitch black. If the night could be as bright as the day, how could that be… ah I’ve got it!
電気で 光る ランプが あれば、くらしは べんりに なるぞ」
2.With lamps that shine with electricity, then life would become much more convenient.”
これが、『電球』の 発明の はじまりでした。
This was the beginning of the invention of the lightbulb
.
1: For 30 years, Edison invented things
2: “With an electrical light lamp”
I’ll start put things I got wrong in my first attempt in italic, might be interesting for people to see the stumbles along the way. You can see that I’m still struggling with Japanese sentence structure and the modification of nouns.
Cheers again guys, having a blast
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Can I ask why you changed the first sentence?
Because of the use of さい it should be about his age and not about a timespan, at least that’s how I interpreted the sentence.
Hmm, I thought と is always the abbreviation of という (which I don’t take to mean “spoke out loud” anyway) but maybe that’s not correct and it can also be と思う。I mainly wanted to point out that it’s not ようとおもう (which for me has a nuance of “attempting something”) but instead it is a sentence (utterance/thought) that happens to end with the volitional, which then gets quoted.
This is another nice example of a relative clause, which we need to be careful of in the translation.
First, let’s search for the main clause. It is
発明でした。- It was an invention
Now what do we know about this invention? It has the property
エジソンが、三十さいの とき. The comma here is a bit confusing. I try to think that it actually does not separate things but groups everything before it and attaches it to the next thing.
So what is the property? It is とき - (at) the time. This is again qualified by a relative clause: エジソンが、三十さい - Edison was 30 years old.
So all together: This was an invention that happened at the time when Edison was 30 years old.
So, the overall subject of the sentence is the invention, not Edison. (I was not sure whether this was clear to everybody so I thought I’d point it out.)
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Hmm, interesting, I thought ようとおもう is for intentions and plans, while ようとする is used for attempting something.