Lengthening the day : a history of lighting technology
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Lengthening the day : a history of lighting technology
Oxford University Press, 1998
- : hbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
People have always wanted light, and until the 19th century the only useful source of light was flame. Electricity brought clean light without flame, and sometimes even without much heat. This book is about the ways in which people have made light to lengthen their day. It explains how oil-lamps, candles, and gas-lights work and, drawing on writings of the time, shows how the available lights affected daily life. The principles of all the main types of electric lights now available are described. Alongside this technical history, quotations from Aristophanes to Jane Austen, from James Boswell to Kenneth Grahame, illustrate the social importance of lighting.
Table of Contents
Introduction. EARLY LIGHTING. Primitive lights. Advanced oil lamps. Gas flames. Limelight. THE FIRST ELECTRIC LIGHTING. A new kind of light. The electric arc. Inventors of the filament lamp. Commercial development of the filament lamp. Early discharge lamps. The Nernst lamp. RIVALS TO ELECTRICITY. The gas mantle. Miscellaneous lamps. MODERN LIGHTING. Metal filament lamps. Lighting the home. Continuing research. Discharge and fluorescent lighting. Lighting the world. What next?. Epilogue. Index
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