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The Invention of the Electric Light

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The Invention of the Electric Light The Invention of the Electric Light B. J. G. van der Kooij This case study is part of the research work in preparation for a doctorate-dissertation to be obtained from the University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands (www.tudelft.nl). It is one of a series of case studies about “Innovation” under the title “The Invention Series”. About the text—This is a scholarly case study describing the historic developments that resulted in the steam engine. It is based on a large number of historic and contemporary sources. As we did not conduct any research into primary sources, we made use of the efforts of numerous others by citing them quite extensively to preserve the original character of their contributions. Where possible we identified the individual authors of the citations. As some are not identifiable, we identified the source of the text. Facts that are considered to be of a general character in the public domain are not cited. About the pictures—Many of the pictures used in this case study were found at websites accessed through the Internet. Where possible they were traced to their origins, which, when found, were indicated as the source. As most are out of copyright, we feel that the fair use we make of the pictures to illustrate the scholarly case is not an infringement of copyright. Copyright © 2015 B. J. G. van der Kooij Cover art is a line drawing of Edison’s incandescent lamp (US Patent № 223.898) and Jablochkoff’s arc lamp (US Patent № 190.864) (courtesy USPTO). Version 1.1 (April 2015) All rights reserved. ISBN-10: 1503185362 ISBN-13: 978-1503185364 Contents Contents ............................................................................................. iii Preface .................................................................................................. v About the Invention Series ............................................................................ vii About our research ......................................................................................... viii About this case study....................................................................................... xi Context for the discoveries .................................................................. 1 The second half of the nineteenth century ................................................... 2 Europe in the 1848–1875 period ................................................................ 3 Europe in the 1875–1914 period .............................................................. 13 England’s Victorian/Edwardian Era ........................................................ 16 America: Revolution and the Gilded Age ................................................ 24 The French Third République and “La Belle Époque” ........................ 29 Summary ....................................................................................................... 36 Science discovers light ..................................................................................... 37 Gaslight .............................................................................................................. 41 The origin of gaslight .................................................................................. 41 Gas-Lighting everywhere ............................................................................ 49 The electric revolution: the Era of Light ................................................. 52 The invention of the arc light ............................................................. 55 Sparks bridging the voltaic gap ...................................................................... 55 Early versions of the arc light .................................................................... 58 Jablochkoff’s electric arc lamp (1876) ...................................................... 62 Later versions of arc lights ......................................................................... 68 Applications of arc lights ............................................................................ 75 The invention of the arc lamp ........................................................................ 78 A cluster of innovations for the arc-light................................................. 81 B.J.G. van der Kooij Industrial bonanza: The arc-light manufacturers ........................................ 83 Charles Bruce and his “electric” business activities ............................... 84 Elihu Thomson and his “electric” business activities ............................ 91 Sebastian Ferranti and his “electric” business activities ........................ 96 The invention of the incandescent light ............................................ 99 Incandescent wires bridging the voltaic gap .............................................. 100 Early inventors of the incandescent lamps ............................................ 103 Later development of the incandescent lamp before Edison ............. 109 The subdivision of light unsolvable? ...................................................... 123 Edison’s invention of the incandescent lamp (1879) ........................... 124 Developments after Edison’s discovery (1880) .................................... 135 The application of incandescent light ......................................................... 152 The electric direct current power system ............................................... 152 DC distribution networks ......................................................................... 156 The invention of the incandescent lamp .................................................... 172 A cluster of innovations for the incandescent lamp ............................ 175 Industrial bonanza: The incandescent-lamp manufacturers .................... 181 Eluhi Thomson’s “electrical business” activities .................................. 184 Thomas Edison’s “electrical business” activities .................................. 187 Business generation ................................................................................... 191 Merging Thomson-Houston Electric & Edison General Electric ..... 194 Conclusion ........................................................................................ 199 Human curiosity, ingenuity, and competition ............................................ 200 Curiosity into the nature of light ............................................................. 200 Ingenuity ...................................................................................................... 202 Competition ................................................................................................ 203 Social change induced by technical change ................................................ 204 Second Industrial Revolution: “There was light” ................................. 204 References ......................................................................................... 211 About the author .............................................................................. 221 iv The Invention of the Electric Light Preface When everything is said and done, and all our breath is gone. The only thing that stays, Is history, to guide our future ways. My lifelong intellectual fascination with technical innovation within the context of society started in Delft, the Netherlands, in the 1970s at the University of Technology, at both the electrical engineering school and the business school.1 Having been educated as a technical student with vacuum tubes, followed by transistors, I found the change and novelty caused by the new technology of microelectronics to be mind-boggling, not so much from a technical point of view but with all those opportunities for new products, new markets, and new organizations, with a potent technology as the driving force. During my studies at both the School of Electric Engineering and the School of Business Administration,2 I was lucky enough to spend some time in Japan and California, noticing how cultures influence the context for technology-induced change and what is considered novel. In Japan I explored the research environment; in Silicon Valley I saw the business environment—from the nuances of the human interaction of the Japanese, to the stimulating and raw capitalism of the United States. The technology forecast of my engineering thesis made the coming technology push a little clearer: the personal computer was on the horizon. The implementation of innovation in small and medium enterprises, the subject of my management thesis, left me with a lot of questions. Could something like a Digital Delta be created in the Netherlands? 1 At the present time it is the Electrical Engineering School at the Delft University of Technology and the School of International Business Administration at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. 2 The institutions’ actual names were Afdeling Electro-techniek, Vakgroep Mikro- Electronica, and Interfaculteit Bedrijfskunde. v B.J.G. van der Kooij During the journey of my life, innovation has been the theme. For example, in the mid-1970s, I joined a mature electric company that manufactured electric motors, transformers, and switching equipment, and business development was one of my major responsibilities. How could we change an aging corporation by picking up new business opportunities? Japan and California were again on the agenda, but now from a business point of view. I explored acquisition, cooperation, and subcontracting. Could we create business activity in personal computers? The answer
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