History of Electric Light

Part 1

Transcriber’s Notes

In this Plain Text version of this eBook, italics are enclosed within ~tildas~, superscripts and subscripts are enclosed in curly braces and preceded by a caret ^{superscript} or an underscore _{subscript}.

Other notes will be found at the end of this eBook.

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOLUME 76, NUMBER 2

HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT

BY HENRY SCHROEDER Harrison, New Jersey

SMITHSONIAN INSTITVTION WASHINGTON 1846]

(PUBLICATION 2717)

CITY OF WASHINGTON PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION AUGUST 15, 1923

The Lord Baltimore Press BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A.

CONTENTS

PAGE

List of Illustrations v

Foreword ix

Chronology of Electric Light xi

Early Records of Electricity and Magnetism 1

Machines Generating Electricity by Friction 2

The Leyden Jar 3

Electricity Generated by Chemical Means 3

Improvement of Volta’s Battery 5

Davy’s Discoveries 5

Researches of Oersted, Ampère, Schweigger and Sturgeon 6

Ohm’s Law 7

Invention of the Dynamo 7

Daniell’s Battery 10

Grove’s Battery 11

Grove’s Demonstration of Incandescent Lighting 12

Grenet Battery 13

Part 2

De Moleyns’ Incandescent Lamp 13

Early Developments of the Arc Lamp 14

Joule’s Law 16

Starr’s Incandescent Lamp 17

Other Early Incandescent Lamps 19

Further Arc Lamp Developments 20

Development of the Dynamo, 1840–1860 24

The First Commercial Installation of an Electric Light 25

Further Dynamo Developments 27

Russian Incandescent Lamp Inventors 30

The Jablochkoff “Candle” 31

Commercial Introduction of the Differentially Controlled Arc Lamp 33

Arc Lighting in the United States 33

Other American Arc Light Systems 40

“Sub-Dividing the Electric Light” 42

Edison’s Invention of a Practical Incandescent Lamp 43

Edison’s Three-Wire System 53

Development of the Alternating Current Constant Potential System 54

Incandescent Lamp Developments, 1884–1894 56

The Edison “Municipal” Street Lighting System 62

The Shunt Box System for Series Incandescent Lamps 64

The Enclosed Arc Lamp 65

The Flame Arc Lamp 67

The Constant Current Transformer for Series Circuits 69

Enclosed Series Alternating Current Arc Lamps 69

Series Incandescent Lamps on Constant Current Transformers 70

The Nernst Lamp 71

The Cooper-Hewitt Lamp 72

Part 3

The Luminous or Magnetite Arc Lamp 74

Mercury Arc Rectifier for Magnetite Arc Lamps 77

Incandescent Lamp Developments, 1894–1904 78

The Moore Tube Light 79

The Osmium Lamp 82

The Gem Lamp 82

The Tantalum Lamp 84

Invention of the Tungsten Lamp 85

Drawn Tungsten Wire 87

The Quartz Mercury Vapor Arc Lamp 88

The Gas-Filled Tungsten Lamp 89

Types and Sizes of Tungsten Lamps Now Made 91

Standard Voltages 93

Cost of Incandescent Electric Light 93

Statistics Regarding the Present Demand for Lamps 94

Selected Bibliography 95

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Portion of the Electrical Exhibit in the United States National Museum viii

Otto Von Guericke’s Electric Machine, 1650 2

Voltaic Pile, 1799 4

Faraday’s Dynamo, 1831 8

Pixii’s Dynamo, 1832 9

Daniell’s Cell, 1836 10

Grove’s Cell, 1838 11

Grove’s Incandescent Lamp, 1840 13

De Moleyns’ Incandescent Lamp, 1841 14

Wright’s Arc Lamp, 1845 15

Part 4

Archereau’s Arc Lamp, 1848 16

Starr’s Incandescent Lamp, 1845 18

Staite’s Incandescent Lamp, 1848 19

Roberts’ Incandescent Lamp, 1852 19

Farmer’s Incandescent Lamp, 1859 20

Roberts’ Arc Lamp, 1852 21

Slater and Watson’s Arc Lamp, 1852 21

Diagram of “Differential” Method of Control of an Arc Lamp 22

Lacassagne and Thiers’ Differentially Controlled Arc Lamp, 1856 23

Serrin’s Arc Lamp, 1857 24

Siemens’ Dynamo, 1856 25

Alliance Dynamo, 1862 26

Wheatstone’s Self-Excited Dynamo, 1866 27

Gramme’s Dynamo, 1871 28

Gramme’s “Ring” Armature 28

Alteneck’s Dynamo with “Drum” Wound Armature, 1872 29

Lodyguine’s Incandescent Lamp, 1872 30

Konn’s Incandescent Lamp, 1875 30

Bouliguine’s Incandescent Lamp, 1876 31

Jablochkoff “Candle,” 1876 32

Jablochkoff’s Alternating Current Dynamo, 1876 33

Wallace-Farmer Arc Lamp, 1875 34

Wallace-Farmer Dynamo, 1875 34

Weston’s Arc Lamp, 1876 35

Brush’s Dynamo, 1877 36

Diagram of Brush Armature 36

Brush’s Arc Lamp, 1877 37

Thomson-Houston Arc Dynamo, 1878 38

Part 5

Diagram of T-H Arc Lighting System 39

Thomson-Houston Arc Lamp, 1878 40

Thomson Double Carbon Arc Lamp 40

Maxim Dynamo 41

Sawyer’s Incandescent Lamp, 1878 42

Farmer’s Incandescent Lamp, 1878 42

Maxim’s Incandescent Lamp, 1878 43

Edison’s First Experimental Lamp, 1878 44

Diagram of Constant Current Series System 45

Diagram of Edison’s Multiple System, 1879 45

Edison Dynamo, 1879 46

Edison’s High Resistance Platinum Lamp, 1879 47

Edison’s High Resistance Platinum in Vacuum Lamp, 1879 47

Edison’s Carbon Lamp of October 21, 1879 48

Demonstration of Edison’s Incandescent Lighting System 49

Dynamo Room, S. S. Columbia 50

Original Socket for Incandescent Lamps 51

Wire Terminal Base Lamp, 1880 51

Original Screw Base Lamp, 1880 52

Improved Screw Base Lamp, 1881 52

Final Form of Screw Base, 1881 53

Diagram of Edison’s Three Wire System, 1881 54

Diagram of Stanley’s Alternating Current Multiple System, 1885 55

Standard Edison Lamp, 1884 56

Standard Edison Lamp, 1888 56

Standard Edison Lamp, 1894 57

Various Bases in Use, 1892 58

Thomson-Houston Socket 59

Part 6

Westinghouse Socket 59

Adapters for Edison Screw Sockets, 1892 60

Various Series Bases in Use, 1892 61

Edison “Municipal” System, 1885 62

Edison “Municipal” Lamp, 1885 63

Shunt Box System, 1887 64

Enclosed Arc Lamp, 1893 65

Open Flame Arc Lamp, 1898 66

Enclosed Flame Arc Lamp, 1908 66

Constant Current Transformer, 1900 68

Series Incandescent Lamp Socket with Film Cutout, 1900 70

Nernst Lamp, 1900 71

Diagram of Nernst Lamp 72

Cooper-Hewitt Mercury Vapor Arc Lamp, 1901 73

Diagram of Cooper-Hewitt Lamp for Use on Alternating Current 74

Luminous or Magnetite Arc Lamp, 1902 75

Diagram of Series Magnetite Arc Lamp 76

Mercury Arc Rectifier Tube for Series Magnetite Arc Circuits, 1902 77

Early Mercury Arc Rectifier Installation 78

The Moore Tube Light, 1904 79

Diagram of Feeder Valve of Moore Tube 80

Osmium Lamp, 1905 82

Gem Lamp, 1905 83

Tantalum Lamp, 1906 84

Tungsten Lamp, 1907 86

Drawn Tungsten Wire Lamp, 1911 87

Quartz Mercury Vapor Lamp, 1912 88

Gas Filled Tungsten Lamp, 1913 89

Part 7

Gas Filled Tungsten Lamp, 1923 90

Standard Tungsten Lamps, 1923 92

Section devoted to the historical development of the electric light and dynamo.]

FOREWORD

In the year 1884 a Section of Transportation was organized in the United States National Museum for the purpose of preparing and assembling educational exhibits of a few objects of railroad machinery which had been obtained both from the Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia in 1876 and still earlier as incidentals to ethnological collections, and to secure other collections relating to the railway industry.

From this beginning the section was expanded to include the whole field of engineering and is designated at present as the Divisions of Mineral and Mechanical Technology. The growth and enlargement of the collections has been particularly marked in the fields of mining and mineral industries; mechanical engineering, especially pertaining to the steam engine, internal combustion engine and locomotive; naval architecture, and electrical engineering, particularly the development of the telegraph, telephone and the electric light.

In the acquisition of objects visualizing the history of electric light the Museum has been rather fortunate, particularly as regards the developments in the United States. Thus mention may be made of the original Patent Office models of the more important dynamos, arc lights and incandescent lights, together with original commercial apparatus after these models; a unit of the equipment used in the first commercially successful installation on land of an incandescent lighting system, presented by Joseph E. Hinds in whose engraving establishment in New York City the installation was made in 1881; and a large series of incandescent lights, mainly originals, visualizing chronologically the developments of the Edison light from its inception, presented at intervals since the year 1898 by the General Electric Company.

The object of all collections in the Divisions is to visualize broadly the steps by which advances have been made in each field of engineering; to show the layman the fundamental and general principles which are the basis for the developments; and to familiarize the engineer with branches of engineering other than his own. Normally when a subject is completely covered by a collection of objects, a paper is prepared and published describing the collection and the story it portrays. In the present instance, however, on account of the uncertainty of the time of completing the collection, if it is possible ever to bring this about, it was thought advisable to publish Mr. Schroeder’s paper which draws upon the Museum collection as completely as possible.

CARL W. MITMAN, ~Curator, Divisions of Mineral and Mechanical Technology, U. S. National Museum~.

CHRONOLOGY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT

1800--Allesandro Volta demonstrated his discovery that electricity can be generated by chemical means. The VOLT, the unit of electric pressure, is named in his honor for this discovery of the electric battery.

1802--Sir Humphry Davy demonstrated that electric current can heat carbon and strips of metal to incandescence and give light.

1809--Sir Humphry Davy demonstrated that current will give a brilliant flame between the ends of two carbon pencils which are first allowed to touch each other and then pulled apart. This light he called the “arc” on account of its arch shape.

1820--André Marie Ampère discovered that current flowing through a coiled wire gives it the properties of a magnet. The AMPERE, the unit of flow of electric current, is named in his honor for this discovery.

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