The Lightbulb Essay -- essays research papers

Among all of the inventions created in 1750 -1900, the light bulb was perhaps one of the most effective to the everyday lives of people. Its invention is credited to Thomas Alva Edison, an American inventor and businessman, who created it in 1879. The design of his light bulb was a carbonized filament inside a glass bulb with a screw base. It glowed when an electric current pass through it, possessed high electrical resistance, and lasted a lot longer than previous sources of light had. Before Thomas Edison's light bulb, gas was the best source of lighting so people turned to candles, oil lanterns, and gas lamps to light up their rooms. It would take many candles, oil lanterns, or gas lamps to fully light up a good-sized room. Not only would they burn out after a few minutes, but they were also very messy and hazardous. Gas would leave large quantities of soot everywhere, potentially causing explosions and fires. Its imaginable how hard it would be to have to keep children, fine furniture, and pets away from these dangers. The soot had t...