BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Electricity: Lighting the World

DC -- Natl Museum of American History -- Exhibit: Electricity: Lighting the World:

Bruce Guthrie Photos Home Page: [Click here] to go to Bruce Guthrie Photos home page.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. SIAHLI_160302_011.JPG: Inventing Edison's Lamp "Well, I'm not a scientist, I'm an inventor." (Thomas Edison, as quoted by his private secretary, A. O. Tate) Of course, some scientists are also inventors. But there is a difference. A person acting scientifically is trying to understand the natural world, whether or not that understanding is economically useful. An inventor tries to create something new that will have practical application. In both cases there is a sense of challenge in the pursuit and a sense of achievement in the result.
2. SIAHLI_160302_013.JPG: An expanded version of this exhibition can be found on-line. Webnotes refer to specific places on the web site for citations and more detailed information. To use them, go to the web site and click on the "Webnotes" link. The URL for this site is americanhistory.si.edu/lighting
3. SIAHLI_160302_020.JPG: Lighting a Revolution Five Steps of Innovation
4. SIAHLI_160302_022.JPG: The Henry Magnet
5. SIAHLI_160302_026.JPG: "With this magnet I can lift a thousand pounds." Joseph Henry, describing this electromagnet that he constructed for Yale University, 1832 Joseph Henry pioneered the development of powerful electromagnets, which turned out to be central to the practical use of electricity in the 19th century. They were essential for the development of motors, generators, the telegraph, the telephone, and many measuring instruments. Henry became the first Secretary of the Smithsonian in 1846, a post he held for 33 years. Object: Magnet and supporting apparatus, 1832 [181,343], from Yale University Graphics: Telegraph receiver, 1850s Generator, 1870s Motor, 1870s Arc lamp, 1870s Telephone receiver, 1880s Transformer, 1880s Electrical Collections at the Smithsonian To document the history and social influences of electrical science and technology, this Museum has preserved thousands of objects, pictures, and documents. These are available for research purposes and for exhibitions, both here and through loans to other museums. In addition to the Lighting a Revolution exhibition (to your left), presentations of several electrical power and communications topics can be found on the Museum's website.
6. SIAHLI_160302_039.JPG: Credits
7. SIAHLI_160302_042.JPG: Step 1: Preconditions
8. SIAHLI_160302_046.JPG: "Mr. T. A. Edison has resigned his situation in the Western Union office, Boston, Mass., and will devote his time to bringing out his inventions." Edison announcement in the Telegrapher, January 1869 Edison had very little formal education, but he read extensively. A practicing telegrapher from 1862 to 1868, he gained hands-on experience with electrical apparatus. This gave him the confidence he needed to strike out on his own.
9. SIAHLI_160302_050.JPG: Faces of Invention Many people shared Edison's ambition and passion to invent. Amid fierce competition, the achievements of one provided new foundations on which the work of others could be constructed. Here and elsewhere throughout the exhibition are portraits of some of Edison's fellow inventors. Edward Weston (1850 -1936) Weston emigrated from England to Newark, New Jersey, in 1870. He established the Weston Electric Instrument Company there in 1888. Its meters gained a reputation for accuracy and reliability. Zenobe-Theophile Gramme (1826 -1901) Gramme, a Belgian, used Pacinotti's armature design to make efficient magneto generators in the 1860s and self-excited dynamos in the 1870s. Antonio Pacinotti (1841 -1912) Born in Pisa, Italy, Pacinotti became professor of physics at the University of Bologna at age 23. There he developed a ring armature design that was used by Gramme in motors and generators. George F. Barker (1835 -1910) A professor of Physics at the University of Pennsylvania from 1879 to 1900, Barker was Edison's closest friend in the academic community. His interest in electric lighting was an influence on Edison in 1878. Charles F. Brush (1849 -1929) Trained in chemistry at the University of Michigan, Brush established himself in Cleveland. There he built his first dynamo in 1875 and an arc light in 1876. His company eventually became part of General Electric. Edwin J. Houston (1847 -1914) Houston was born in Alexandria, Va., but spent most of his life in Philadelphia teaching at Central High School. With Elihu Thomson, he designed an arc-light generator. He left the Thomson-Houston Company in 1882 to devote his time to teaching.
10. SIAHLI_160302_057.JPG: Zenobe-Theophile Gramme (1826 -1901) Gramme, a Belgian, used Pacinotti's armature design to make efficient magneto generators in the 1860s and self-excited dynamos in the 1870s.
11. SIAHLI_160302_060.JPG: George F. Barker (1835 -1910) A professor of Physics at the University of Pennsylvania from 1879 to 1900, Barker was Edison's closest friend in the academic community. His interest in electric lighting was an influence on Edison in 1878.
12. SIAHLI_160302_063.JPG: Antonio Pacinotti (1841 -1912) Born in Pisa, Italy, Pacinotti became professor of physics at the University of Bologna at age 23. There he developed a ring armature design that was used by Gramme in motors and generators.
13. SIAHLI_160302_067.JPG: Edward Weston (1850 -1936) Weston emigrated from England to Newark, New Jersey, in 1870. He established the Weston Electric Instrument Company there in 1888. Its meters gained a reputation for accuracy and reliability.
14. SIAHLI_160302_068.JPG: Charles F. Brush (1849 -1929) Trained in chemistry at the University of Michigan, Brush established himself in Cleveland. There he built his first dynamo in 1875 and an arc light in 1876. His company eventually became part of General Electric.
15. SIAHLI_160302_071.JPG: Edwin J. Houston (1847 -1914) Houston was born in Alexandria, Va., but spent most of his life in Philadelphia teaching at Central High School. With Elihu Thomson, he designed an arc-light generator. He left the Thomson-Houston Company in 1882 to devote his time to teaching.
16. SIAHLI_160302_077.JPG: Batteries Italian Alessandro Volta announced in 1800 that he could produce electricity by chemical means. His pile or "battery" stimulated a wide number of scientific and technical experiments. Note in particular the early voltaic pile (1) and the early trough battery (2) designed by William Cruickshank in England following Volta's principles. Modifications of the Daniell cell were widely used in American telegraphy.
17. SIAHLI_160302_085.JPG: Motors In 1831 in England, Michael Faraday discovered a way to change electrical energy into the continuous motion of a motor. Others followed with their own variations. Note in particular the design (6) by Thomas Davenport, a Vermont blacksmith, who in 1834 had all the essential elements of the classic motor -- a rotating armature, field magnets, and a commutator.
18. SIAHLI_160302_095.JPG: Generators Working at the Royal Institution in London, Michael Faraday felt certain that somehow magnetism could produce electricity. After a decade of searching, he found the answer in 1831. It was a simple matter of having a conducting wire move across the "lines of force" that Faraday imagined coming out of the end of the magnet. Early machines were very weak because they depended on permanent magnets. Note in particular the early Pixii machine (14), with a commutator (to change alternating to direct current) designed by A. M. Ampere. The Holmes-type machine (17), with its several large permanent magnets, was inefficient but still strong enough to light arc lamps for special applications. In 1866 Charles Wheatstone and Werner Siemens independently invented the self-excited generator (18), where the magnetic field is produced by an electromagnet using electricity from the generator itself. In just a few years very efficient generators were being designed, most notably by Zenobe Gramme (19).
19. SIAHLI_160302_104.JPG: Meters It is necessary to measure electrical effects in order to perform scientific and technical experiments. All of these meters operate on the principle that a magnet will move when affected by an electric current. Note in particular the Nobili galvanometers (21, 22). There are two magnetized needles attached to the vertical string, parallel to each other but magnetized in opposite directions, which means that the combination is not affected by the Earth's magnetic field. One you can see above the coil, and the other is inside the coil. When current flows in the coil, the needle inside is affected more, and it twists the string. You can see how much it twists by looking at the upper needle.
20. SIAHLI_160302_121.JPG: Electromagnets The electromagnet was arguably the most important electrical invention of the 19th century. It concentrated the magnetism produced by electricity and made it possible to build effective telegraphs, telephones, generators, and motors. William Sturgeon constructed the first practical electromagnet in 1824 in England. Joseph Henry, an American, perfected the design. Note in particular the magnet Henry constructed for Yale University at the entrance to this hall, as well as the cores for some of his earlier magnets shown here (28, 29, 30)
21. SIAHLI_160302_130.JPG: Arc Lamps "The intense light had not been subdivided so that it could be brought into private houses." Edison, notebook entry, September 1878 In an arc light, vaporized carbon particles are heated electrically to the point where they glow brightly--too bright in fact for use in the home. Edison proposed to use electricity to heat a wire. The brightness of this "incandescent" lamp could be made dim enough for use indoors. Electricity does not flow freely through materials. This resistance to the flow can vary, depending on what is in the circuit, or path, of the flow of electricity. Arc lights had low electrical resistance. In a circuit several were linked together in electrical series, and their total resistance was high compared to the resistance of the conducting wires. Thus more energy was used in the lights and not wasted as heat in the wires. Edison s successful incandescent lamp had a relatively high resistance and could be controlled individually.
22. SIAHLI_160302_136.JPG: "Hurry up the machine, I have struck a bonanza." Edison to Wallace, September 13, 1878 Edison had ordered a generator, like the one in the smaller case behind you, from William Wallace the previous week. He was anxious to use it in his experiments. The development of efficient electric generators in the early 1870s made the commercial use of arc lamps possible. The first large-scale application occurred in Paris in 1878, with lamps designed by Russian inventor Paul Jablochkoff and generators by the Belgian Zenobe Gramme. In America, Wallace (with Moses Farmer), Charles Brush, and the firm of Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston soon followed with their own systems. But bright arc lamps were not suitable for use inside. Edison thought he saw a way to make smaller lights. He called this idea his "bonanza."
23. SIAHLI_160302_145.JPG: Step 2: Invention
24. SIAHLI_160302_149.JPG: "Aren't you a good deal of a wizard, Mr. Edison?" (New York Daily Graphic reporter interviewing Edison, 1878) Edison established a laboratory in 1876 in rural Menlo Park, New Jersey, 20 miles from New York. He was determined to invent things, and he was very successful at doing so. In 1877, while working on an improved telephone, he invented the phonograph. Even he was surprised. Others were astounded to hear the human voice reproduced, and he quickly became a celebrity. He used this popularity to his advantage, to gain support for further inventions.
25. SIAHLI_160302_153.JPG: Bust of Edison, made by J. Beer Jr., for the Phrenological Society of America, 1878
26. SIAHLI_160302_160.JPG: "Wizard" cartoon, New York Graphic, 1877
27. SIAHLI_160302_166.JPG: An Edison Chronology 1847: Born February 11, Milan, Ohio 1859-63: Sells newspapers and sundries on train between Port Huron, Michigan, and Detroit 1864-67: Years as a traveling telegrapher 1868: Patents first invention, Boston 1869: Works on stock ticker and printing telegraph, New York 1870: First substantial income from an invention (stock ticker) 1871: Marries Mary Stilwell 1874: Quadruplex telegraph (sending four messages over a wire at the same time) 1876: Carbon-resistance telephone transmitter 1877: Phonograph 1879: Incandescent lamp 1882: Pearl Street Station, New York 1883: Discovers and experiments with electrical discharge inside lamp (called Edison Effect; later basis of vacuum tube) 1884: Wife Mary dies 1886: Marries Mina Miller 1887: Newer, larger laboratory, West Orange, New Jersey 1888-: Motion pictures 1889-95: Concentrated activity on electromagnetic ore-separation work, Ogdensburg, New Jersey - More work on phonograph - Development of storage battery 1923-: Attempts to find alternative sources of rubber 1929: Inauguration of Menlo Park laboratory as a museum, Dearborn, Michigan 1931: Dies October 18, West Orange, New Jersey
28. SIAHLI_160302_174.JPG: "Your trip to China and Japan on my account to hunt for bamboo or other fiber, was highly satisfactory ... you found exactly what I required." Edison letter to William Moore, about 1885 Carbonized vegetable fibers made the strongest filaments. As part of a world-wide search, Edison sent William Moore to the Far East. He collected thousands of samples of bamboo to be tested. The best were from a grove in Yawata, near Kyoto, Japan. This became the standard for Edison lamps for the next ten years. Edison had begun his search for an electric light in September 1878, using electricity to heat a thin wire until it glowed. He knew he needed a material that was a conductor with a high melting point and tried a number of different metals and metal oxides, but their low resistance made them inefficient. In September 1879, he experimented with thin filaments of carbon, and by the end of the year he had a practical lamp. The carbon filament was thin enough so that it had a relatively high resistance-- much higher than the wires leading from the generator. This meant that most of the energy would be used in the light bulb and not in the distribution system, a critical factor that distinguished Edison s invention from all others. Edison got his carbon filaments by baking vegetable fibers, which he reasoned would leave the carbon atoms strongly linked together. Thread worked, cardboard was better, and even better was bamboo. He also made improvements in other parts of the lamp.
29. SIAHLI_160302_190.JPG: "In 1877 ... I commenced the practice of placing notebooks all over my laboratory." Edison testimony, 1880 Recording notes is a critical element of the inventive process, especially when several people are involved. Notes are also valuable in patent cases and, eventually, to historians. In the case below are several of Edison's notebooks.
30. SIAHLI_160302_196.JPG: Hammer's first Menlo Park notes were made in a book clearly purchased for other use. Here is a drawing of the maze of instruments on the laboratory testing table.
31. SIAHLI_160302_200.JPG: This book, filled with figures and many blank pages, is typical of those used by Edison and most of his assistants.
32. SIAHLI_160302_207.JPG: The Menlo Park notebooks are full of sketches of possible arrangements of lamps and other devices. Here is sketched some lamps placed in series and parallel in the same circuit, and a two-way switch for turning on lamp A, lamp B or both.
33. SIAHLI_160302_255.JPG: "On December 31, 1879, special trains brought thousands of people out from New York to see this spectacular display." Francis Jehl, Edison assistant, in his recollections, 1939 By early December 1879, Edison was convinced that he had developed a practical carbon-filament incandescent lamp. As soon as he could produce enough of them, he strung them around his Menlo Park compound for others to see.
34. SIAHLI_160302_259.JPG: Step 3: Promotion
35. SIAHLI_160302_263.JPG: "Mr. Edison's exhibition is the wonder of the show." London Standard describing an international electrical exhibition in 1882 Edison had a fine sense of the value of promotion. His own renown as an inventor--especially of the phonograph and of an improved telephone-- helped him get money from investors. But he also took care to have impressive exhibits at the international fairs. Many of these exhibits were organized by William J. Hammer, one of his Menlo Park employees. Edison also pressed ahead quickly with some highly- publicized lighting installations.
36. SIAHLI_160302_265.JPG: Attracting Investors In a twinkling, the area bounded by Spruce, Wall, Nassau, and Pearl Streets was in a glow." New York Herald, 5 September 1882 The site for Edison s first U.S. central generating station had to satisfy both engineering and business needs. Use of direct current at 100 volts to power the new light bulbs resulted in a practical limitation customers could be no further than � mile from the generator. To promote the system, a high profile location was called for. Edison chose a site in the heart of New York s financial district, 255 and 257 Pearl Street, as seen on the map at right. On September 4, 1882, he threw a switch in the office of one of his main investors, J. Pierpont Morgan, and initiated service to the area. A major factor in Edison s success lay in his ability to attract large amounts of money to fund research and development. Financing for Edison s initial light bulb experiments had mainly come from telegraph businessmen who knew him and had faith in his abilities. In 1878, they and the banking house of Drexel-Morgan paid $50,000 for 1/6 share in the Edison Electric Light Co. Edison held the other 5/6 share. To finance Pearl Street Station, more money was needed and this same group established the Edison Electric Illuminating Co. in December, 1880. While raising $750,000 new money, both Edison s share and his control of the company declined. The other investors were cautious about engaging in manufacturing and marketing activities, but Edison was anxious to move ahead and sold some of his stock in order to finance new activities. These included: Edison Lamp Company (October 1880), to manufacture light bulbs Edison Machine Works (1881) to produce generators Edison Tube Works (1881) to make underground connectors Edison Company for Isolated Lighting (1884) to promote small generating stations for individual businesses and homes. In 1884, although he no longer controlled the Edison Electric Light Company, Edison persuaded the other investors, notably Morgan, to support a more vigorous program of expansion. By 1886, total capitalization reached $1.5 million, and Edison moved to West Orange, New Jersey, to set up his new laboratory He kept controlling interest in the machine and lamp works, but sold these after the several companies combined to form Edison General Electric in 1889. Though Edison was cool to the idea, this new company merged with the rival firm of Thomson-Houston in 1892 to form General Electric Co.
37. SIAHLI_160302_279.JPG: Pearl Street "...my system of lighting having been perfected should be promoted." Edison, as quoted in the Electrical World, August 1883 Edison's financial backers would have been content for him to license his invention for others to use. But Edison was not just an inventor. He was also an entrepreneur he wanted to make sure that his invention was used and that it was used correctly. He therefore constructed at Pearl Street in New York City a full-scale central station that began operations on September 4, 1882. A focal point for further promotional efforts, the station gave a clear demonstration that his electric lighting system worked. By then, in addition to the light bulb, he had invented many additional items necessary for the system. These included a meter (to measure how much electricity the customer used) and an improved generator. Edison went on to develop manufacturing plants for light bulbs, generators, and other system components. Beginning in 1886, these were consolidated in Schenectady, N.Y.
38. SIAHLI_160302_297.JPG: The System Fixtures
39. SIAHLI_160302_299.JPG: Testing The System "Last week we lighted up the Lithograph Establishment of Messrs. Hinds & Ketcham in N. Y." Edison letter, February 11, 1881 "There is only one system, and that is Edison's" London Daily News, 1882 Prior to the opening of Pearl Street Station, Edison tested his lighting system and gained practical experience with smaller-scale installations. Holborn Viaduct William Hammer and other Edison associates established a demonstration central power system at Holborn Viaduct in London. It started operation January 12, 1882. By the time it closed down early in 1884, it had a capability of lighting over 3000 lamps. The map above shows the location of Holborn Viaduct in London. Photographs at the left show the Viaduct area as it appeared a few years later.
40. SIAHLI_160302_305.JPG: Hinds-Ketcham This was the first commercial installation of the new electric light. The power came from a stand-alone "isolated plant" rather than a central station, but still served to test system components in everyday use.
41. SIAHLI_160302_320.JPG: Electroliers
42. SIAHLI_160302_338.JPG: S.S. Columbia "Dispatch received this morning from steamer Columbia states she arrived safe in Rio and that the Edison light is all right." Charles Mott, Edison assistant, writing in his diary, May 31, 1880 The first practical application of the Edison lighting system was on a steamship bound from New York to San Francisco. All 115 cardboard-filament lamps survived the two-month voyage. The original system continued to operate (with replacement bulbs) for another 15 years.
43. SIAHLI_160302_355.JPG: Gas Light "If I had had my wits about me when your telegram came announcing your discovery, I might have made you a clean million as it played the very devil with stocks all over the country." George Gouraud in a letter to Edison, from London, October 1878 While Edison s initial announcement of his discovery was premature, his reputation served to cause a sharp drop in the price of gas company stocks. Edison used gas lighting as the model for his electric lighting system, and his success began a commercial rivalry between the two technologies. Notice Edison, Joseph Swan, and other electric lamp makers haunting The Dream of a Gas Manufacturer in the 1884 drawing at right. Improvements in gas quality and Carl Auer von Welsbach s gas mantle invention were two factors that kept gas lighting competitive with electricity for 30 years.
44. SIAHLI_160302_359.JPG: Step 4: Competition
45. SIAHLI_160302_362.JPG: "If you want to succeed, get some enemies." Edison, as quoted in the Ladies Home Journal, April 1898 Success produced rivals. The gas companies improved their lighting systems, and other electrical inventors came out with their own systems, many of them borrowing heavily from Edison's work. Edison himself was spurred on to make further improvements. Some of Edison's rivals are represented in these displays of light bulbs, meters and generators.
46. SIAHLI_160302_366.JPG: Electric Light "You are aware that a seizure was made by us of the Maxim lamp at the Paris Exposition. Suit was commenced immediately on the seizure." Report of Messrs. Puskas and Bailey to the Edison Electric Light Co. of Europe, 1882. Competition to Edison's lamp came quickly. Some inventors, like Joseph Swan of England, were already working on the problem and soon produced their own lamps. Others, like George Westinghouse, brought existing companies into the new field. As a result, Edison often found himself in court, defending his lamp patents and filing for injunctions. The lamps in this case show a variety of designs that appeared within about twenty years of Edison's first commercial lamp.
47. SIAHLI_160302_377.JPG: Joseph W. Swan (1828 -1914) Swan had a varied inventive career, with early contributions to photography. His carbon filament lamp anticipated Edison's by several months, but it had a low resistance and was unsuitable for commercial use. Swan's 1883 cellulose filament became an industry standard.
48. SIAHLI_160302_379.JPG: Walther H. Nernst (1864 -1941) Nernst, a professor of physics at G�ttingen and Berlin, received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1920 for work in thermodynamics. As a sidelight, in the 1890s he invented an efficient lamp in which the filament heated rare-earth salts, which then glowed. The lamp was very efficient, but too expensive to be practical.
49. SIAHLI_160302_383.JPG: Lewis H. Latimer (1848 -1928) An African American, born in Chelsea, Mass., Latimer trained as a draftsman at a Boston patent law firm. There he made drawings for Alexander Graham Bell, among others. He joined the Maxim company in 1880 and invented a means of producing improved carbon filaments. In 1884 he moved to Edison's Lamp Works and had a distinguished career as a draftsman.
50. SIAHLI_160302_402.JPG: Meters These meters represent some of the many companies that competed in the electric light business.
51. SIAHLI_160302_404.JPG: Oliver B. Shallenberger (1860 -1898) A graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy, Shallenberger left the Navy in 1884 to join the Westinghouse company. In 1888 he invented an induction meter for measuring alternating current, a critical element in the Westinghouse AC system.
52. SIAHLI_160302_416.JPG: Nikola Tesla (1856 -1943) Born of Serb parents in Croatia, Tesla was educated in Europe. He came to New York in 1884 and worked briefly for Edison. He patented a practical AC motor in 1888. Other AC patents were used in the Westinghouse generators at Niagara Falls. He is also known for high-frequency experiments and inventions in the field of radio.
53. SIAHLI_160302_423.JPG: Generators From the beginning, many of Edison s rivals used alternating current generators.
54. SIAHLI_160302_437.JPG: Transformers The first practical AC transformer was developed by Frenchman Lucien Gaulard and Englishman John Gibbs; improvements were made at the Ganz company in Budapest and, in the United States, by William Stanley who was working for George Westinghouse. Motors A practical AC motor was invented by Nikola Tesla in 1888 (see example in the case behind you).
55. SIAHLI_160302_439.JPG: The Alternating Alternative "It will never be free from danger." Edison in a memorandum concerning the Westinghouse AC system, 1886 "Tell your father I was wrong." Edison to George Stanley, son of William Stanley who had invented an AC transformer for Westinghouse, 1908 In the long term, Edison was certainly wrong in assessing the problems of alternating current. But at the time, he had good reasons for sticking with direct current. The reason for using AC was that it could be easily converted to high voltage, transmitted over long distances with low losses, and then converted back to low voltage to be used by the customers. But even at low voltage, there was evidence that AC was more dangerous than DC, and there was the possibility that the transformer might break down and deliver high voltage to the home. Even a few such accidents could be very harmful to the growth of this new industry. Although both arc and incandescent lights could use AC, existing motors (especially important for the growing street railway industry) and meters could not. Early AC transformers were inefficient. Electrochemical processes used DC. Batteries could store DC during periods of low demand. Edison also may have been influenced by the commitment he had made to his own DC system and by the difficulty of visualizing the operation of AC.
56. SIAHLI_160302_448.JPG: Step 5: Consequences
57. SIAHLI_160302_451.JPG: "I have accomplished all I promised." Thomas Edison, to New York Sun reporter, 1882 This statement indicated Edison's pleasure upon opening the Pearl Street station. But even he would have had difficulty predicting the consequences of his invention. It stimulated a lighting industry that quickly spread through cities and towns across the country. And it helped establish the need for large central stations, beginning with Niagara Falls. Ironically, since these stations would rely on alternating current for efficient long-distance transmission, they would lead to the abandonment of Edison's direct current systems in most applications. Over the course of the next half century two broad social effects developed that seem especially significant. 1) We now had complete control over light in homes and offices, independent of the time of day. 2) The electric light brought networks of wires into homes and offices, making it relatively easy to add appliances and other machines.
58. SIAHLI_160302_458.JPG: Watt-hour meters measure the amount of electrical energy consumed. These examples are from the 1890s.
59. SIAHLI_160302_479.JPG: A Revolution Complete Niagara Falls "Someday I'll harness that power." Nikola Tesla, as a young boy looking at a picture of Niagara Falls, according to a recollection in 1915 The world's first large-scale central generating station opened at Niagara Falls in 1895, with some of its output transmitted twenty miles away to Buffalo. It employed two-phase AC techniques invented by Nikola Tesla and was thus more efficient than previous alternating current systems. In succeeding years, large centralized AC generating stations would eventually link together the many local systems (DC and AC) in cities and towns across the country into a national grid.
60. SIAHLI_160302_502.JPG: Section of cable over which current from the Niagara station was conducted, Apr. 16, 1895
61. SIAHLI_160302_507.JPG: Niagara Falls: Insulator used on Niagara-Buffalo line, 1895, 10,000 volts
62. SIAHLI_160302_515.JPG: Elevator The elevator to your left was installed in the Carnegie mansion at 2 East 91st New York, in 1902. While this installation could be considered a luxury (it stopped at five floors and the basement), elevators were essential to the new skyscrapers.
63. SIAHLI_160302_518.JPG: Street Car Controller Aside from lighting, the most important early use of electric power was for street railways. The first practical system was installed by Frank Sprague in Richmond in 1888, and others quickly followed. Within 15 years over 20,000 miles of street railway lines had been built in American cities, almost completely replacing horse-drawn cars.
64. SIAHLI_160302_520.JPG: Switch Panels Opened in 1889 as a central generating station, the 26th Street Station in New York City provided direct current power to the surrounding area. When the Waterside generating station began providing alternating current service to all of Manhattan about 10 years later, rotary converters and the necessary control equipment were installed at 26th Street. Used as a substation, its operators converted 3-phase, 6600-volt, 25-cycle AC from Waterside to 120 / 240 DC needed by customers. The panels to the left were removed from 26th Street after it ceased operation in 1977.
65. SIAHLI_160302_529.JPG: "It is curious to watch two men entering what is little more than a crack in the earth, and taking with them a powerful machine which is receiving power from the surface by means of an electric cable." Charles R. Gibson, reporting on the use of electricity for mining in 1906. Gibson wrote a book-length survey of the state of the electric arts entitled, The Romance of Modern Electricity. The title reflected his sense of wonder at the marvellous [sic] difference that the advent of electricity has made in everyday life. That difference became practical through the development of an interconnected system of large, central generating stations, high-voltage AC transmission lines, and lower voltage AC and DC distribution lines. An integrated system that could make electricity and deliver it hundreds of miles to wherever it was wanted -- be that in tall buildings or deep mines as seen in the image to your right. Coal Cutter The machine below literally undermined a coal-seam by cutting a slot about 4 feet deep along the base of the seam. Gravity or, if necessary, explosives would then bring the seam down. Automating this part of the job doubled each miner s daily output, according to Gibson.
66. SIAHLI_160302_532.JPG: Leo Daft (1843 -1922) Born in Great Britain, Daft came to the United States in 1866. In 1879 he joined the New York Electric Light Company and transformed it into the Daft Electric Company, which became a major competitor in the street railway business.
67. SIAHLI_160302_535.JPG: Sydney H. Short (1858 -1902) Short was born in Columbus, Ohio. After graduating from Ohio State University, he became professor of physics and chemistry at the University of Denver. He held over 500 patents, many in the field of streetcar railways
68. SIAHLI_160302_538.JPG: Charles J. Van Depoele (1846 -1892) A native of Belgium, Van Depoele came to the United States in 1869 and settled in Detroit. He invented an arc lamp in 1870, but is especially known for developing a form of electric railway using overhead wires.
69. SIAHLI_160302_543.JPG: Frank J. Sprague (1857 -1934) A graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy, Sprague covered the Paris (1881) and London (1882) electrical exhibitions for the Navy. He worked briefly for Edison and later developed a constant-speed motor and an overhead trolley pick-up device important for street railways.
70. SIAHLI_160302_548.JPG: T.A. Edison "Edicraft" toaster, about 1929, [8010] from the National Park Service
71. SIAHLI_160302_569.JPG: A Path Not Taken
72. SIAHLI_160302_571.JPG: An Electric Breeze Fans for Consumers
73. SIAHLI_160302_574.JPG: "Wat if we took a motor...?"
74. SIAHLI_160302_587.JPG: A Consumer Product
75. SIAHLI_160302_593.JPG: Fans by Design
76. SIAHLI_160302_600.JPG: By the end of the 1880s three firms dominated the lighting field: Edison, Westinghouse, and Thomson Houston. Edison stayed with direct current, the others used alternating current. In 1892, the Edison company and Thomson Houston merged to form General Electric.
77. SIAHLI_160302_604.JPG: Electrification "Electricity is a modern necessity of life." (Franklin Roosevelt, at Rural Electrification Administration celebration, 1938) The electric lamp, in effect, paid for a network of generators and wires. These were available for a whole new class of inventions--appliances and equipment that by the 1930s had transformed the home and the workplace.
78. SIAHLI_160302_654.JPG: Interior Lighting The electric lamp gave us complete control over lighting of homes and work places. By the time of the Roosevelt quote this was true (with the help of the REA) even in rural areas. The consequence was to interrupt the normal rhythms of life and to alter for all time the schedules we have for work and leisure. A Danish immigrant, Frode Rambusch, started a business in New York in the 1890s designing murals and stained glass windows for public buildings. He soon expanded activities to make special lighting fixtures, incorporating artificial light into the architecture. At right (9) is his first fixture. It was designed in 1908 to shield the eyes while illuminating a mural he had created. The overhead lamp (1939) is also by Rambusch.
79. SIAHLI_160302_671.JPG: Lighting a Revolution II A Century After Edison
80. SIAHLI_160302_674.JPG: LIGHTING A REVOLUTION II "Before the 1970s the philosophy was 'energy is cheap.'" Robert Levin, Osram Sylvania scientist, in an interview, 1996 The oil crisis of 1973 marked a turning point. Suddenly energy wasn't cheap at all, and there was a lot of talk about "efficiency" and "conservation." Lighting engineers responded like modern-day Edisons, dreaming up new ways to produce light. In this section of the exhibition, we look at inventors in the late 20th century and make comparisons with Edison s time a century before. We again consider 1) preconditions for invention, 2) the inventive process, 3) promotion of the invention, 4) how success brings competition, and 5) some of the consequences of an important invention. We shall also see how concepts of efficiency have come to dominate the lighting field. An expanded version of this exhibition can be found on-line. Webnotes on labels refer to specific places on the website for citations and more detailed information. To use them, go to the website and click on the Webnotes link. These are also accessible on the computers in this new section of the exhibition. The URL for this site is americanhistory.si.edu/lighting.htm
81. SIAHLI_160302_677.JPG: Step 1: Preconditions Technology after Edison "We wouldn't have CFLs [compact fluorescent lamps] without the rare-earth phosphors." Victor Roberts, GE lighting engineer, 1996 Inventors in the late 20th century had access to much technical information that was unknown in Edison's time. Some knowledge came from outside the industry--like phosphor work that was done for television. But lighting engineers made many discoveries, especially in the new industrial laboratories. In the case to the right, you can see how the incandescent lamp changed during the early 20th century, principally through the introduction of tungsten filaments. Also shown are commercially successful gas-discharge lamps.
82. SIAHLI_160302_680.JPG: Lighting Terms: Lumens, Watts and Efficacy Lumens: The energy of the visible rays (light) given off per second is measured in lumens. Watts: The energy of the electrical input per second is measured in watts. Efficacy: The energy output divided by energy input is called efficacy and stated as lumens per watt (lpw). Efficacy is a measure of the efficiency of a lamp in producing visible light.
83. SIAHLI_160302_683.JPG: Incandescent Lamps "I remember this circumstance very well because of the excitement and surprise and incredulity which he manifested at the time. He asked me over and over again what it was." William D. Coolidge, General Electric scientist, 1909 Coolidge was recounting Fritz Blau s reaction to a lamp made with bendable (ductile) tungsten wire. Blau, an Austrian, had helped invent a non-ductile tungsten lamp only a few years earlier and knew well the difficulty of working with this metal. Coolidge s lamp was not the first improvement in Edison s design, nor was it the last. It built on previous work (such as Blau s) and fueled new work (such as Irving Langmuir s). As the technology matured however, the pace of major improvements slowed. By 1936 almost all of the components of today s light bulb were in place. [break in label] 1. Tantalum - 1905: [O-3] Werner von Bolton and Otto Feuerlein, working for Siemens & Halske in Germany, invented a tantalum filament. It was the first metallic-filament lamp sold in the United States. Notice how long the filament has to be to give it enough resistance. Efficacy: 5 lumens per watt. 2. Non-ductile tungsten - 1907: [O-4] Tungsten seemed like an obvious material for a filament because it has a very high melting point. But it is also very brittle and hard to form into a wire shape. Even so, several European inventors developed practical manufacturing techniques. Alexander Just and Franz Hanaman in Austria, used a chemical process to make a very stiff wire. Notice how several sections were joined together in series to get a filament with enough electrical resistance. Efficacy: 8 lumens per watt. 3. Drawn tungsten - 1911:[O-5] William Coolidge, at GE, developed a ductile tungsten that could be drawn into a flexible wire. Notice the difference from the previous lamp. Efficacy: 10 lumens per watt. 4. Coiled tungsten; gas-filled; tipless - 1923: [O-7] Irving Langmuir, at GE, (A) experimented with gas-filled lamps using nitrogen to reduce evaporation of the tungsten. As a result, he was able to raise the temperature of the filament. To reduce conduction of heat by the gas, he made the filament smaller by coiling the tungsten. Notice the mica disc near the bottom, which prevented hot circulating gas from getting to the base. Notice also the lack of a tip. Early lamps were evacuated through a tube at the top. Sealing the tube left a pointed tip. By 1920 a practical way had been devised to evacuate through the base, where the tip could be hidden. Efficacy: up to 18 lumens per watt.
84. SIAHLI_160302_690.JPG: Preconditions Lamp Technology from 1900 to 1950
85. SIAHLI_160302_697.JPG: Incandescent Lamp in Action
86. SIAHLI_160302_700.JPG: Discharge Lamps in Action
87. SIAHLI_160302_704.JPG: Discharge Lamps "We will oppose the use of fluorescent lamps to reduce wattages" Westinghouse executive, as cited in hearings before the Senate Committee on Patents, 1942 Westinghouse saw no advantage in promoting a new, more efficient lamp in an era of falling energy prices. Controlling an estimated 85 percent of the U.S. incandescent lamp market, GE also had little reason to change. And neither company wanted to offend electric utilities that purchased power equipment and were not interested in reducing energy consumption. Nevertheless, wartime factories began to use fluorescent lamps. And after the war, with more competition in the lighting industry, their use expanded. By 1951 fluorescent lamps produced more light than incandescent lamps in the United States. [break in label] 5. Mercury, low pressure - 1915: [O-10] Several people worked with mercury discharge tubes in the 19th century. Peter Cooper Hewitt invented a practical lamp in 1901. In the example here, notice that if the lamp were tipped properly the liquid mercury would connect the two electrodes. The electric current through the mercury would heat it until some vaporized. The electricity would continue to flow as an arc through the vapor, exciting the atoms to give off their characteristic blue color. This lamp found limited use for industrial applications, especially photography. Efficacy: 12.5 lumens per watt. 6. Mercury, high intensity - 1933: [O-11] At higher pressures, the mercury lamp is more efficient. The internal arc-tube (here Pyrex, but today made of quartz) contains the mercury under pressure. The external glass tube helps to filter out unwanted ultraviolet radiation. Efficacy: 30 to 40 lumens per watt 7. Sodium, low pressure - 1933: [O-12] Combined efforts at Philips (Holland), Osram (Germany) and GEC (England) resulted in a practical low-pressure sodium discharge lamp. The principal challenge was to develop a glass that would not be corroded by sodium. The characteristic yellow color limits its applications, but a high efficacy made it and continues to make it popular for street lighting. Efficacy: originally 40 and now sometimes over 200 lumens per watt. 8. Fluorescent - 1938: [O-14] In Europe, desire for better efficacy led to early tests of phosphors that could be stimulated by the radiation in lamps to produce other colors. In the United States, GE, with help from Westinghouse, introduced practical fluorescent lamps in 1938. Many were in colors, used for advertising and special displays, but shades of white were also introduced. Note the electrodes in the ends of this 1934 experimental lamp, the pellet of mercury, and the hazy phosphor-band around the middle. Efficacy for white lamps: 30 lumens per watt at the beginning, with a lifetime of 1000 hours. By the end of the century these numbers were 80 to 100 lumens per watt and 20,000 hours.
88. SIAHLI_160302_712.JPG: Ways of Making Light
89. SIAHLI_160302_717.JPG: "You can make a lamp that will last forever, but...." Victor Roberts, GE lighting engineer, 1996 A filament can continue to glow indefinitely on reduced voltage. Unfortunately, the light level and efficacy are reduced--a trade-off which is rarely acceptable. We invite you to use the activities in this display to explore some of the science of light and color.
90. SIAHLI_160302_719.JPG: Feeling Light Touch the panel in front of each lamp. Can you feel a difference? The panel in front of the incandescent lamp feels hottest because much of the energy going into the lamp is radiated as unwanted heat (infrared rays). The other lamps produce more light and less heat. For instance, the low-pressure sodium lamp emits four times more visible light and uses only half the energy of the incandescent lamp. Message: We judge the efficiency of a lamp by the amount of visible light it produces compared to the energy it consumes.
91. SIAHLI_160302_722.JPG: Making Color Compare the color lines on the graphs mounted under the lamps. Can you find color lines which appear in more than one? What differences can you see? Compare the graphs to the color of the lamps. Atoms and molecules in a lamp emit distinctive colors. The graphs indicate that the same atoms and molecules may be present in different lamps. The strong blue lines, for instance, come from the element mercury. Your eye and brain merge these lines to see an overall color. Message: Inventors try to choose materials for their lamps to produce desired colors.
92. SIAHLI_160302_731.JPG: Science after Edison "He was just engaged in fundamental research" William Louden, former GE lighting engineer, 1996 Louden was talking about Joseph Burke, who applied science to what he called the art of ceramics in experiments with aluminum oxide. It turned out that aluminum oxide was important for the high-pressure sodium lamp, which you will see later in the Invention section of this exhibit. But he could have been talking about a lot of other people. Many scientific developments applicable to electric lighting appeared during the early decades of the 20th century. Laboratory research into the physics of electrical discharges, the metallurgy of tungsten, and chemical properties of glass played roles in creation of the lamps displayed here--all of which were available in the 1930s. The interactive display Different Ways to Make Light (in the gallery to your right), allows you to explore some of the science behind electric light.
93. SIAHLI_160302_739.JPG: Step 2: Invention "Genius is ninety-nine percent perspiration and one percent inspiration" Thomas Edison Whatever the percentages, it's probably the same for inventors today as for Edison. But circumstances have changed. Work is more often done in groups in large laboratories; scientific training is more important; equipment is more expensive. See some of the differences and similarities in six recent lighting inventions, displayed in the cases behind this panel. [The above version was from http://americanhistory.si.edu/lighting/scripts/s20b.htm ]
94. SIAHLI_160302_745.JPG: Tungsten Halogen: working in a modern industrial laboratory
95. SIAHLI_160302_748.JPG: "So just out of pure frustration I suddenly decided to make a really bad lamp." Edward Zubler, former GE engineer, 1996 Zubler had been trying to get a better and better vacuum, so that only the halogen gas would be in the lamp. But results just got worse. Letting in some air improved things, leading to the conclusion that small amounts of oxygen and carbon somehow are essential--a process that is still being studied. Efficacy: up to 32 lumens per watt Zubler was one of several highly trained scientists and engineers who worked on a process to improve the tungsten lamp by adding a halogen gas inside the bulb. Teamwork is commonplace in a modern industrial laboratory--partly because it is easy to call on different experts for different phases of the project, partly because the company doesn't want to have all of the knowledge held by one person. Elmer Fridrich, seen here in a photo (A) taken around 1980, began the experiments that led to a successful visible-light lamp after participating in the development of a quartz heat-lamp. (1,2, and 3) Other members of the development team are seen in the 1959 newspaper clipping (B): Frederick Mosby (seated), Alton Foote, Stanley Ackerman, & Edward Zubler (standing, left to right).
96. SIAHLI_160302_751.JPG: Metal Halide: the value of scientific training
97. SIAHLI_160302_754.JPG: "I'd taken everything from topography to matrices, everything you could possibly mention in the field of mathematics, because you need it in the field of physics." Gilbert Reiling, former GE engineer, 1996 Gilbert Reiling (B), after working on several government projects at GE's research laboratory in Schenectady, got permission to play with an old concept--using sodium to balance the blue color of a mercury vapor lamp. His extensive mathematical training allowed him to calculate that in the cooler area near the wall of the arc-tube, a halogen (like iodine or bromine) would combine with the sodium and prevent it from attacking the quartz tube. Reiling's initial patent application was denied on grounds that it was covered by a 1912 patent by Charles Steinmetz. This lamp (1) was made following Steinmetz's instructions; Reiling then demonstrated to the patent examiner that his lamp was different. It should be noted that similar work was being done at this time--apparently independently--in Germany. Sylvania then brought out a lamp with scandium iodide that had even better color characteristics. As with other metal halide lamps, convection currents tended to push the arc upwards in the middle when the lamp was horizontal, so the tube was curved to prevent the arc from hitting the wall. (2)
98. SIAHLI_160302_757.JPG: High Pressure Sodium: studying materials
99. SIAHLI_160302_761.JPG: "He had been fascinated by aluminum oxide." William Louden, former GE engineer, speaking of Joseph Burke, 1996 Knowing about materials can make a big difference. It was important to Edison as he first tried different kinds of metals and then tried many varieties of carbon for his filament. When Joseph Burke (A) came to GE's Research Lab in 1954, he began researching the properties of ceramics, specifically aluminum oxide. This material turned out to make a good container for highly reactive sodium and it could withstand high pressure. At high pressure the yellow spectral lines of sodium widen, resulting in better color than low-pressure sodium lamps. (See interactive unit, behind you to your left.) Several people contributed further developments: Robert Coble added magnesium to make the aluminum oxide 95 percent transparent (1); William Louden worked on the end seals; Kurt Schmidt tried cesium, sodium and other metals as light sources (B). The lamp was announced in 1962 as "Lucalox" (for translucent aluminum oxide), though it wasn't until 1968 that a truly practical lamp was marketed. The efficacy of high pressure sodium lamps is about 100 lumens per watt, but the color is quite yellow. Increasing the pressure improves the color, but reduces the efficacy to about 40 lumens per watt.
100. SIAHLI_160302_771.JPG: Compact Fluorescent: the challenge of manufacturing
101. SIAHLI_160302_774.JPG: "We didn't license that bridge weld - it was a very significant piece of technology." Steve Goldmacher, marketing division, Philips, 1996 The major "scientific" problem with the compact fluorescent lamp was finding phosphors that would last long enough when exposed to much greater radiation density in the smaller tube. There also were engineering problems associated with production: how to make a small ballast to fit in the body of the lamp, how to dissipate heat, how to construct in a small space the long tube that was still needed for electrical efficiency, how to keep the cost down. The Philips company solved the "long tube" problem by creating bridges between short tubes (3); other companies bent a longer tube. Philips marketed the first true compact fluorescent lamp in 1980 (1). Westinghouse quickly followed (2). Efficacy of the compact fluorescent lamps at first was about 40 lumens per watt. In later versions (with electronic instead of magnetic ballasts) efficacy can be above 80 lumens per watt.
102. SIAHLI_160302_777.JPG: Inventors during the 1970s tried many ways of making compact fluorescent lamps. Displayed here are a few of those designs. Lamps using some of the concepts shown here are now starting to appear on the market (see the Competition section on the wall behind you). Donald Hollister, an independent inventor, and John Anderson of GE, designed lamps that did not use electrodes (4, 5). They both encountered problems with heat and complex electronics. Edward Hammer's (GE) "spiral lamp" (8) was difficult to mass-produce, as were "partition" designs from several inventors (7). Leo Gross's and Merrill Skeist's (Spellman Electronics) "magnetic arc-spreader" also involved complex glass-work (6).
103. SIAHLI_160302_788.JPG: Silica Carbide Incandescent: the lone inventor
104. SIAHLI_160302_792.JPG: "Ninety percent of my time goes into building and designing equipment." John Milewski, founder Superkinetic Inc., 1996 It's still possible to be a lone inventor--but it's not easy. A lot of time is spent making equipment that might be provided in a company laboratory. And significant resources are needed for development, patent applications, promotion. John Milewski had experience as an engineer using silica fibers to reinforce materials. In 1987 his son Peter used these fibers--which could be heated to very high temperatures-- as lighting filaments for a science fair project. The son's project took third place. But it also produced U.S. patent number 4,864,186, and the father was stimulated to continue experiments in his living room using surplus equipment (B). Among that equipment were the items you see here: an optical pyrometer (4), and a vacuum bell-jar with filament mounted in the holder (3). In 1991 and 1992 he obtained financial support from the Electric Power Research Institute and in 1993 from a program sponsored by the National Institutes of Science and Technology with the Department of Energy. As this exhibition is being prepared in 1999 the practicality of the silica-carbide lamp is still uncertain, but experiments continue.
105. SIAHLI_160302_799.JPG: Sulfur: serendipity in a non-lighting company
106. SIAHLI_160302_803.JPG: "You were allowed to make a fool of yourself." Michael Ury, engineer at Fusion Lighting, 1996 What Ury meant was that it's nice to be able to try something that seems silly and not have everybody laugh at you. Sometimes it can to lead to an unexpected but exciting result. In 1972 four physicists and Ury (an engineer) founded Fusion Systems, where they hoped to develop products based on their experience in high-energy physics, with microwaves in particular. They were successful with an ultraviolet lamp (energized by microwaves) for drying inks in high-speed industrial processes. In 1980 Ury and Charles Wood (one of the physicists) tried activating sulfur in one of the ultraviolet tubular lamps to produce visible light. The effort failed and was quickly abandoned. Meanwhile various improvements were made to the ultraviolet system, including use of a spherical rotating source lamp. In 1990, looking for ideas for new products, Ury remembered the work with sulfur and decided to try it in a spherical rotating arrangement. The result was a very intense light with good color properties. To diffuse the light over a large area they found just what they needed in a prism light guide that had been recently invented by Lorne Whitehead at the University of British Columbia (B). Ury, on the left (A), poses with Lee Anderson, Lighting Program Manager at the Department of Energy. The DOE Program provided funding and technical assistance, and helped in promoting the new lamp. A commercial version was available in 1996.
107. SIAHLI_160302_806.JPG: The Sulfur Lamp
108. SIAHLI_160302_812.JPG: Promotion
109. SIAHLI_160302_816.JPG: Step 3: Promotion "It's one thing to develop a product, but somehow you've got to market it. We develop products now with specific market applications in sight." William Roche, engineer, OSRAM SYLVANIA, 1996 Most of Edison's inventions were also aimed at particular markets. He knew that products had to be promoted. And, as he found out, sometimes even the best promotion couldn't guarantee success.
110. SIAHLI_160302_818.JPG: A hundred years after Edison, fairs and trade shows continue to play a role in the introduction of new products (D). Both tungsten-halogen and metal-halide lamps were introduced to the public at the 1964 New York World s Fair. As seen on the cover of Life, national capitals were marked by tungsten-halogen lamps on the Unisphere. (A) Large public demonstrations, like relighting the Statue of Liberty (B), also give makers an opportunity to show their product. Lamp 2, below (in three pieces) is similar to the lamps Philips used to light Big Ben in 1995.(C) Advertising, however, has become increasingly important with the development of mass media.
111. SIAHLI_160302_824.JPG: The Halarc Adventure: When promotion fails "All of a sudden it was a big project and we had all kinds of meetings and inventions-of-the-week and, ah, just terrible." Elmer Fridrich, former GE engineer, 1996 "It was a disaster." Gilbert Reiling, former GE engineer, 1996 GE's metal halide lamp was being used successfully for high-intensity outdoor lighting at the time of the energy crisis of 1973 so they decided to develop a low- intensity version for home use. But there were a lot of technical problems. By the time the Electronic Halarc lamp was introduced in 1981, some, but not all, of the difficulties had been solved. It still had a warm-up time of about three minutes; it came in only one size; and it cost about $15. Equally important, public concern about conserving energy had abated. GE spent millions of dollars on promotion. The lamp was no longer available three years later. But as Edison often said, failure is part of the learning process. GE applied the knowledge gained from the Electronic Halarc project to later products such as compact fluorescent lamps.
112. SIAHLI_160302_828.JPG: Competition
113. SIAHLI_160302_831.JPG: Step 4: Competition "When you come out with a product, you need to give people choices." Gilbert Reiling, former GE engineer, 1996 If a product is successful, other companies inevitably will try to supply that choice. Sometimes competitors come up with a different way of doing the same thing or at least make significant improvements. Or they sign a licensing agreement. Compact Fluorescent Lamps A wide variety of designs have been marketed since the first CFL in 1981. A few can be seen here and in these ads. Notice the prototype fixture (17), that was designed for the new lamp.
114. SIAHLI_160302_838.JPG: Consequences
115. SIAHLI_160302_841.JPG: Step 5: Consequences "Lighting has finally arrived." Don Thomas, former Sylvania engineer, 1996 Lighting considerations are now an integral part of the design of houses, offices, factories, and (look around you) museums. Architects and engineers consider not only light levels but also heat generation and long-term costs. And, increasingly, they consider energy conservation. In Thomas's words, they consider the whole building as an energy-saving box. The question for this exhibition is to what extent can this be considered a new "revolution. In the first section we suggest that Edison's invention (with help from many others) led to two dramatic changes. One was our complete control over interior lighting. The second was a network that brought electricity into homes and offices and made it economical to introduce a wide variety of electrical appliances and fixtures. For this second section of the exhibit we would like you to consider two additional changes, still in process. One is the control we are achieving over exterior light. The second is the degree to which lighting is contributing to our understanding of the importance of energy conservation.
116. SIAHLI_160302_844.JPG: Energy Conservation "When the well's dry, we know the worth of water." Benjamin Franklin, in Poor Richard's Almanac, 1746 As Franklin experimented with static and lightning, he could not have imagined a day when Poor Richard's truism would apply to electricity. We, however, are reminded of the worth of electric power whenever the lights suddenly go out. In 1998 nearly 70 percent of US electricity was generated using nonrenewable fuels, and we've seen what happens to the worth of oil when wells go dry. The movement to conserve energy has been driven by several factors: the high cost of new electric generating plants, the oil crisis of 1973, and a moral desire to help conserve the world's limited resources. But in the United States, still a land of abundance, the impact of these factors on individuals is often short lived. Perhaps what is needed is a constant reminder. Might electric light, our most common and obvious use of energy, provide that reminder? As people begin to make conscious choices about changing light bulbs in their homes, could they develop an instinctive understanding of conservation? If so, it may become second nature to weigh long-term energy savings against short-term costs.
117. SIAHLI_160302_847.JPG: Lamp Efficiency Over the Years
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Description of Subject Matter: Electricity: Lighting a Revolution
– Permanent
This exhibition reveals—through five interwoven stages—how Thomas Edison's incandescent electric light bulb and other inventions began to transform our world and examines the similarities and differences between the process of invention in Edison's era and today.
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