All About the Modern Light Bulb

The modern light bulb is of course a wonderful convenience. Nights would seem infinitely long without it. The common electric light bulb enables us to work, play games, read, cook, do homework, and hundreds of other activities, when without it (and if for some reason gas lights or lamps hadn’t been invented) we would have to simply spend long nights doing nothing while sitting around in the dark.

Thomas Alva Edison invented the common light bulb in 1879 and it quickly replaced gas lighting. Over a hundred years ago, gas lighting was the well-established method. But today the common light bulb produces a much stronger stream of a light than gas lighting and it’s much more convenient. Just flip a switch and you’ll have a strong source of light at your disposal. After a few years of working through the initial problems with light bulbs and steadily improving them, they would last for years without having to be changed once. Yes, light bulbs were once made to be much longer-lasting then the ones we rely on today (light bulb companies get more profits with the quick-burners). Although modern light bulbs do give off more light than the older variety, we now have to change them much more often.

The kerosene lamp produced much inferior light in comparison with the modern light bulb, and it was not as convenient either. The lamp had to frequently be filled with kerosene and also the wick had to be trimmed and adjusted often, and also replaced when it burned out. But of course the main advantage to kerosene lamps was that you wouldn’t find a bill for its use every month in your mailbox; and secondly, there were no power failures. Excessive flammability was a major problem however. If a kerosene lamp was knocked over, then the house could possibly burn to the ground. And occasionally, for no reason at all, if a kerosene lamp wasn’t maintained properly, it could suddenly burst into flames, which is always frightening if you’re simply spending a quiet evening at home. In modern times, with current oil prices being what they are, kerosene is too expensive to use in lamps.

The mechanical makeup of a common light bulb is simply an electrical current that heats up a filament until it glows. But did you know that Edison had to try over three thousand different theories concerning incandescent lamps before his light bulb was successful? Other inventors had tried to invent electric light before him, but they had all failed.

Before the use of kerosene lamps approximately 200 years ago, whale oil or animal fat was the fuel used for lamps and lanterns. Candles were made from tallow, which is fat rendered from beef or mutton. However, some candles were made from bees wax. A common method of making candles was to dip cattail plants into melted tallow or beeswax, then allow them to dry and harden before lighting them.

Rather than beef or mutton tallow, hog lard, or even bacon grease was commonly used to fuel the more simple lamps of less affluent people. But lard or bacon grease produced a smoky, offensive flame.

So the next time you turn on a light, remember Thomas Alva Edison and how he changed our society into a sufficiently illuminated world, and possibly give him a few quick words of thanks.

Sources:

Lamp facts, Wildwood Wisdom, Ellsworth Jaeger, Macmillon Co.

Great Idea Finder, Light Bulb, http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/lightbulb.htm