Wednesday, 7 August 2013

History Of Brightness

We all are a part of an electrified world. Light bulb, particularly, profoundly revolutionized human existence. It not just helped in illuminating nights but also made human existence hospitable for an array of human activities. History of electric light, which adds to our daily convenience, bears testimony of many scientists, physicist’s efforts. Some people who took a step forward in the field were James Lindsay, Frederick Moleyns, Heinrich Göbel, Humphrey Davy and Warren Rue and Thomas Edison.

Humphrey Davy offered a miner lamp by working out on formulation for electric arc. In year 1802, he demonstrated workings of electric arc with the help of 2 wires- one attached to battery and other to the thin charcoal piece. In 1820, Warner Rue produced light bulb by using platinum coil in empty tube and passing electric current through it. But this bulb was not really commercially feasible due to costly platinum used.

Hence various scientists started the search for finding suitable filament for bulb. Soon James Joule advocated that the electric current when passed via conductor with the high resistance produces thermal energy, generating light energy. But quest for finding right filament which was practical, inexpensive, commercially feasible was still on. In 1840, Joseph Swan established earliest functional light bulb with the help of carbonized, paper filament. He also patented the bulb in year 1860. But the bulb produced dim light and was not at all long lasting. It needed a power source nearby to function all the time.

With similar technology, Sir Thomas Eliot made the bulb commercially feasible in the year 1875. He had tirelessly worked towards making light bulb better. He also introduced a bamboo filament lamp soon after working on light bulb. By using Herman Spiegel’s vacuum pump, he successfully created vacuum inside his lamp’s chamber.

Source : www.engineersgarage.com/invention-stories/light-bulb-history

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