Myths and Interesting Facts About the Light Bulb and Edison

It is commonly believed that Thomas Edison (Thomas Edison) was an uneducated man, a talented autodidact who poorly understood theory and preferred to use intuition and trial and error in his work. However, the first volume of the collected works "The Papers of Thomas Alva Edison," published in the USA in the early 1990s, debunks this established opinion. The published documents convincingly demonstrate the inventor's deep knowledge of the scientific literature of his time. By the way, Edison himself published several articles in technical journals.

Familiarity with technical literature helped him improve (rather than invent, as many think) the incandescent electric lamp. But let's start from the beginning.

As early as the beginning of the 19th century, Russian scientist Vasily Petrov, who was the first to describe in his diary the amazing phenomenon of electric discharge, suggested that it could somehow be used in the future. In 1813, the "voltaic arc" was discovered. In 1876, the famous Russian physicist Yablochkov demonstrated a powerful electric light source equal in luminous intensity to 6,000 candles. The invention became known worldwide as the invention of the Russian scientist under the name "Yablochkov candles." "Russian light" was successfully used to illuminate evening streets and squares in front of theaters. At the time, French newspapers could be read saying: "The Russian physicist left all the Parisian lamplighters out of work."

However, the "Yablochkov candles" had one significant drawback—they were too powerful and bulky to be used for home lighting.

Around the same time, physicist-inventor Alexander Lodygin announced his invention. In 1873, he invented a device where, under a glass vacuum dome, a piece of carbon glowed between two electrodes when current was applied. Only one step remained before the creation of the modern light bulb.

And it was made. In 1880, American inventor Thomas Alva Edison received a patent for the incandescent electric lamp.

However, he was not the first to patent the modern version of the incandescent lamp. Ten months earlier, English inventor Joseph Swan demonstrated the same lamp in Newcastle. Moreover, Swan received a patent for the invention a year earlier than Edison.

It is now certain that Thomas read an article in "Scientific American" about Swan's work with incandescent lamps. And since Swan's invention was imperfect, he was able to improve it.

Not much time passed, and this invention began bringing Edison substantial money, which naturally angered Swan, who sued the American inventor.

The British courts found Thomas Edison guilty of copyright infringement. The court ordered him to make Swan a partner, which was done, and Edison's company in Britain was renamed "Edison and Swan United Electric Company" (later Edison bought out Swan's share in the company).

But the troubles did not end there. A predecessor was also found in the USA. On October 8, 1883, the US Patent Office ruled that Thomas Edison's developments were based on the inventions of one William Sawyer, and Edison's patents were invalidated.

Why is he still considered the inventor of the incandescent lamp? This is explained by the fact that he owned an energy company (which would later be called "General Electric") and created New York's energy system. Moreover, he continued to improve the invention, and while early light bulbs burned out after 150 hours, Edison later invented a bulb that worked for 1,200 hours.

Thus, it is a mistake to consider Edison the sole creator of the incandescent lamp since his incandescent lamp was merely a refinement of other scientists' versions.

The invention's credit also goes to the German inventor Heinrich Göbel, who was the first to figure out how to remove air from a glass lamp bulb. And Russian inventor Alexander Nikolaevich Lodygin was the first to propose making the filament out of tungsten rather than carbon or charred fibers.

However, Edison came up with the modern form of the lamp, screw socket with a holder, plug, outlet, and fuses. He contributed greatly to the mass adoption of electric lighting.

Interesting fact!

American inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Alva Edison, who received 1,093 patents in the US and about 3,000 in other countries, is the creator of the phonograph, improved the telegraph, telephone, and movie equipment, and developed one of the first commercially successful versions of the incandescent electric lamp.

Edison was known for his incredible determination and work ethic. When he was searching for a suitable material for the filament of an incandescent electric lamp, he went through about 6,000 samples before settling on carbonized bamboo. Testing the characteristics of the lamp's carbon circuit, he spent about 45 hours in the lab without rest. Even into old age, he worked 16–19 hours a day.

“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration,” said Thomas Edison.

Nikola Tesla described his colleague as follows:

“If Edison had to find a needle in a haystack, he wouldn't waste time determining the most likely location. He would immediately begin examining straw after straw with feverish diligence until he found the object of his search. His methods are extremely inefficient: he may spend a tremendous amount of time and energy and achieve nothing unless luck helps him. Initially, I sadly watched his activity, realizing that some theoretical knowledge and calculations would save him 30% of his effort. But he had genuine contempt for book learning and mathematical knowledge, relying entirely on his inventor's instinct and American common sense.”

Thomas Edison's Work with Nikola Tesla

In 1884, Edison hired young Serbian engineer Nikola Tesla, whose duty was to repair DC motors and generators. Tesla proposed using alternating current for generators and power plants. Edison received Tesla's new ideas rather coldly, and there were constant disputes.

Tesla claims that in the spring of 1885, Edison promised him $50,000 (equivalent to approximately $1 million in today's dollars at the time) if he could structurally improve Edison's DC electric machines. Nikola eagerly set to work and soon presented 24 types of Edison's machines using alternating current, a new commutator, and a regulator that significantly improved performance.

Approving all the improvements, when asked about the reward, Edison refused Tesla, saying the immigrant did not yet understand American humor. Offended, Tesla immediately resigned. A couple of years later, Tesla opened his own "Tesla Electric Light Company" next to Edison. Afterward, Edison launched an extensive information campaign against alternating current, claiming that the high voltage used in AC systems was dangerous.

The War of the Currents | Which Current is Better: DC or AC?

Unlike Edison, who proved himself to be an tireless experimenter and skilled businessman, supporters of alternating current relied on mathematics and the laws of physics. Having studied Edison's patent, American entrepreneur and engineer George Westinghouse identified the weak link in his system—high power losses in conductors when transmitting electrical energy over long distances.

As a result, in 1886, George Westinghouse introduced a competing electrical distribution network based on alternating current.

The rejection of direct current led to Edison's financial defeat, as he earned a significant part of his income from patent royalties. Sensing his defeat, Edison filed lawsuits for over 10 patent violations, but the court rulings were not in his favor.

The confrontation between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse and his partner Nikola Tesla in the struggle for the use of DC or AC came to be known as the "War of the Currents" or "Battle of the Currents."

A film about this large-scale rivalry of the greatest inventors of their generation was made, titled "The War of the Currents." The film premiered on September 9, 2017, with the slogan "Whoever controls energy controls the future."

As mentioned earlier, Nikola Tesla, who started working in Thomas's lab, tried to prove that alternating current was more effective for transmission over hundreds of kilometers. The future legendary inventor proposed using it for power plants and generators but found no support.

This "war" between competing firms "Edison Electric Light" and "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" lasted for over 100 years and ended in late November 2007 with the final transition of New York consumers from direct current to alternating current.

Interesting Facts About Thomas Edison

1. Thomas Edison registered over 1,000 patents in the USA, making him one of the most prolific inventors in history.
2. Edison is credited with inventing the simplest tattoo machine. Five dots on Thomas's left forearm and the engraving device Stencil-Pens, patented in 1876, were the reasons. However, the father of the tattoo machine is considered to be Samuel O'Reil.
3. In 1877, Edison invented the phonograph—the first device for recording and reproducing sound, which revolutionized the music industry.
4. Edison developed the kinetoscope—one of the first devices for displaying moving images, which was an important step in the development of cinema.
5. The death of the elephant Topsy is attributed to the inventor. After the animal killed three people, it was decided to euthanize it. Hoping to win the "War of the Currents," Edison proposed executing the elephant with 6,000 volts of alternating current, and the "performance" was recorded on film.
6. In the biography of the American genius, there is a failed project for which even a whole factory was built to extract iron from low-grade ore. His compatriots laughed at the inventor, proving that it was simpler and cheaper to invest money in ore deposits. And they were right.
7. In 1911, Edison built an uninhabitable house made entirely of concrete, including windowsills and electrical pipes. At the same time, he tried his hand as a furniture designer, presenting concrete interior items to potential buyers. And again, he failed.
8. One of the wildest ideas was creating a helicopter powered by gunpowder. A series of explosions that destroyed part of Edison's factory forced him to stop the experiments.
9. By inventing the long-life bulb, Edison did humanity a disservice—people's sleep decreased by 2 hours. By the way, improving the bulb required 40,000 notebook pages of calculations.
10. The word "hello," which starts a phone conversation, is also Edison's idea. On August 15, 1877, Edison suggested using this word as a greeting when he wrote to the president of the Pittsburgh Telegraph Company. In this "battle," he opposed Alexander Bell, the founder of American telephony, who suggested greeting with "ahoy" (used when meeting ships). But the word "Hullo" (a derivative of "Hello") caught on better, as we can witness today.

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