Editing Incandescent light bulb (section)

==History==
Historians Robert Friedel and [[Paul Israel (historian)|Paul Israel]] list inventors of incandescent lamps prior to [[Joseph Swan]] and [[Thomas Edison]] of [[General Electric]].{{sfnp|Friedel |Israel |2010 |p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8U-Naf4DuzMC 91–93]}} They conclude that [[Edison light bulb|Edison's version]] was the first practical implementation, able to outstrip the others because of a combination of four factors: an effective [[incandescent]] material; a [[vacuum]] higher than other implementations which was achieved through the use of a [[Sprengel pump]]; a high [[Electrical resistance|resistance]] that made power distribution from a centralized source economically viable, and the development of the associated components required for a large-scale lighting system.

Historian [[Thomas P. Hughes|Thomas Hughes]] has attributed Edison's success to his development of an entire, integrated system of electric lighting.
{{blockquote
|text=The lamp was a small component in his system of electric lighting, and no more critical to its effective functioning than the Edison Jumbo [[electrical generator|generator]], the Edison main and feeder, and the parallel-distribution system. Other inventors with generators and incandescent lamps, and with comparable ingenuity and excellence, have long been forgotten because their creators did not preside over their introduction in a system of [[lighting]].
|sign=Thomas P. Hughes
|source=in ''Technology at the Turning Point'', edited by W. B. Pickett<ref>{{cite book|last=Hughes|first=Thomas P.|year=1977|chapter=Edison's method|title=''Technology at the Turning Point''|editor-first=W. B.|editor-last=Pickett|place=San Francisco|publisher=San Francisco Press|pages=5–22}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Hughes|first=Thomas P.|year=2004|title=American Genesis: A Century of Invention and Technological Enthusiasm|edition=2nd|place=Chicago|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-22635-927-4}}</ref>}}

{| class="toccolours collapsible collapsed" style="float:right; text-align:center; margin-left:1em;"
|-
! Timeline of the early evolution of the light bulb<ref>{{cite book|last=Josephson|first=Matthew|title=Edison: a biography|url=https://archive.org/details/edisonbiography00jose|url-access=registration|publisher=McGraw Hill|year=1959|isbn=0-471-54806-5}}</ref>
|-
|
{{Early evolution of the light bulb}}
|}
{{-}}
===Early pre-commercial research===
[[File:Edison Carbon Bulb.jpg|thumb|upright|Original carbon-filament bulb from [[Thomas Edison]]'s shop in Menlo Park]]
In 1761, [[Ebenezer Kinnersley]] demonstrated heating a wire to [[incandescence]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Blake-Coleman |first=B. C. (Barrie Charles) |year=1992 |title=Copper Wire and Electrical Conductors – The Shaping of a Technology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xMvY_v4kMMQC&pg=PA127 |publisher=Harwood Academic Publishers |page=127 |isbn=3-7186-5200-5 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206142310/https://books.google.com/books?id=xMvY_v4kMMQC&pg=PA127 |archive-date=6 December 2017}}</ref> However such wires tended to melt or oxidize very rapidly (burn) in the presence of air.<ref name="ReferenceA">''Edison's Electric Light: The Art of Invention'' by Robert Friedel, Paul Israel, Bernard S. Finn &ndash; Johns Hopkins University Press 2010 Page 6--7</ref> [[Limelight]] became a popular form of [[stage lighting]] in the early 19th century, by heating a piece of [[calcium oxide]] to incandescence with an [[oxyhydrogen torch]].<ref>[https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201811/history.cfm APS News - November 9, 1825: Public Demonstration of the Limelight]</ref>

In 1802, [[Humphry Davy]] used what he described as "a [[Battery (electricity)|battery]] of immense size",<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Bence|title=The Royal Institution: Its Founder and Its First Professors|date=2011|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-1108037709|page=278}}</ref> consisting of 2,000 cells housed in the basement of the [[Royal Institution]] of Great Britain,<ref>{{cite web|title=Popular Science Monthly (Mar-Apr 1879)|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_14|website=Wiki Source|access-date=1 November 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910091549/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_14|archive-date=10 September 2015}}</ref> to create an incandescent light by passing the current through a thin strip of [[platinum]], chosen because the metal had an extremely high [[melting point]]. It was not bright enough nor did it last long enough to be practical, but it was the precedent behind the efforts of scores of experimenters over the next 75 years.<ref name=Davis>Davis, L.J. "Fleet Fire." Arcade Publishing, New York, 2003. {{ISBN|1-55970-655-4}}</ref> Davy also demonstrated the [[electric arc]], by passing high current between two pieces of charcoal.

For the next 40 years much research was given to turning the [[carbon arc lamp]] into a practical means of lighting.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The carbon arc itself was dim and violet in color, emitting most of its energy in the [[ultraviolet]], but the positive electrode was heated to just below the melting point of carbon and glowed very brightly with incandescence very close to that of sunlight.<ref>''Clinical Medicine and Surgery Volume 35'' by Herman Goodman - American Journal of Clinical Medicine, 1928, Page 159-161</ref> Arc lamps burned up their carbon rods very rapidly, expelled dangerous [[carbon monoxide]], and tended to produce outputs in the tens of kilowatts. Therefore, they were only practical for lighting large areas, so researchers continued to search for a way to make lamps suitable for home use.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Over the first three-quarters of the 19th century, many experimenters worked with various combinations of platinum or [[iridium]] wires, [[carbon]] rods, and evacuated or semi-evacuated enclosures. Many of these devices were demonstrated and some were patented.{{sfnp|Houston |Kennely |1896 |loc=chapter 2}}

In 1835, [[James Bowman Lindsay]] demonstrated a constant electric light at a public meeting in [[Dundee, Scotland]]. He stated that he could "read a book at a distance of one and a half feet". However he did not develop the electric light any further.<ref name=Challoner>{{cite book|last=Challoner|first=Jack|title=1001 Inventions That Changed The World|publisher=Barrons Educational Series|location=Hauppauge NY|year=2009|page=305|display-authors=etal|isbn=978-1844036110}}</ref>

In 1838, Belgian lithographer [[Marcellin Jobard]] invented an incandescent light bulb with a vacuum atmosphere using a carbon filament.{{sfnp|Friedel |Israel |2010 |p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8U-Naf4DuzMC&pg=PA91 91]}}

In 1840, British scientist [[Warren De la Rue]] enclosed a coiled platinum filament in a [[vacuum]] tube and passed an electric current through it.<ref name="peke22">{{cite web |title=Who invented the lightbulb? |first1=Elizabeth |last1=Peterson |first2=Callum |last2=McKelvie |date=2022-11-03 |website=Live Science |url=https://www.livescience.com/43424-who-invented-the-light-bulb.html |access-date=2024-11-16 }}</ref> The design was based on the concept that the high melting point of platinum would allow it to operate at high temperatures and that the evacuated chamber would contain fewer gas molecules to react with the platinum, improving its longevity. Although a workable design, the cost of the platinum made it impractical for commercial use.

In 1841, Frederick de Moleyns of England was granted the first [[patent]] for an incandescent lamp, with a design using platinum wires contained within a vacuum bulb. He also used carbon.{{sfnp|Houston |Kennely |1896 |p=24}}{{sfnp|Friedel |Israel |2010 |p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8U-Naf4DuzMC&pg=PA7 7]}}

In 1845, American [[John Wellington Starr|John W. Starr]] patented an incandescent light bulb using carbon filaments.<ref>[[Charles D. Wrege]] ''J.W. Starr: Cincinnati's Forgotten Genius'', Cincinnati Historical Society Bulletin 34 (Summer 1976): 102–120. Retrieved 16 February 2010.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Derry|first1=T.K.|last2=Williams|first2=Trevor|title=A Short History of Technology|year=1960|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-486-27472-1}}</ref> His invention was never produced commercially.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20030713033647/http://home.frognet.net/~ejcov/starr.html "John Wellington Starr"]. Retrieved 16 February 2010.</ref>{{Better source needed|date=November 2024}}

In 1851, [[Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin]] publicly demonstrated incandescent light bulbs on his estate in Blois, France. His light bulbs are on display in the museum of the [[Château de Blois]].{{efn|1=Many of the above lamps are illustrated and described in {{cite book |first1=Edwin J. |last1=Houston |first2=A. E. |last2=Kennely |name-list-style=amp |title=Electric Incandescent Lighting |url=https://archive.org/details/electricincande00kenngoog |publisher=The W. J. Johnston Company |location=New York |year=1896 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/electricincande00kenngoog/page/n29 18]–42 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}}}

In 1859, [[Moses G. Farmer]] built an electric incandescent light bulb using a platinum filament.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Streak of Luck |first=Robert |last=Conot |publisher=Seaview Books |location=New York |year=1979 |isbn=0-87223-521-1 |pages=120–121 |url=https://archive.org/details/streakofluckcono00cono/page/120 }}</ref> Thomas Edison later saw one of these bulbs in a shop in Boston, and asked Farmer for advice on the electric light business.

[[File:Stamp of USSR 1634g.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Alexander Lodygin]] on 1951 Soviet postal stamp]]
In 1872, Russian [[Alexander Nikolayevich Lodygin|Alexander Lodygin]] invented an incandescent light bulb and obtained a Russian patent in 1874. He used as a burner two carbon rods of diminished section in a glass receiver, hermetically sealed, and filled with nitrogen, electrically arranged so that the current could be passed to the second carbon when the first had been consumed.<ref>''Edison Electric Light Co. vs. United States Electric Lighting Co.'', Federal Reporter, F1, Vol. 47, 1891, p. 457.</ref> Later he lived in the US, changed his name to Alexander de Lodyguine and applied for and obtained patents for incandescent lamps having [[chromium]], [[iridium]], [[rhodium]], [[ruthenium]], [[osmium]], [[molybdenum]] and [[tungsten]] filaments.<ref>{{US patent|575002|U.S. Patent 575,002 ''Illuminant for Incandescent Lamps'' by A. de Lodyguine. Application on 4 January 1893}}</ref>

On 24 July 1874, a Canadian patent was filed by [[Henry Woodward (inventor)|Henry Woodward]] and [[Mathew Evans]] for a lamp consisting of carbon rods mounted in a nitrogen-filled glass cylinder. They were unsuccessful at commercializing their lamp, and sold rights to their patent<ref>{{US patent|181,613}}</ref> to Thomas Edison in 1879. (Edison needed ownership of the novel claim of lamps connected in a parallel circuit.)<ref>{{cite web|title=Patent no. 3738. Filing year 1874: Electric Light|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/innovations/023020-2710-e.html|publisher=[[Library and Archives Canada]]|access-date=17 June 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619071150/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/innovations/023020-2710-e.html|archive-date=19 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.frognet.net/~ejcov/evans.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050219182908/http://home.frognet.net/~ejcov/evans.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 February 2005|title=Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans Lamp retrieved 2010 February 16|work=frognet.net}}</ref> The government of Canada maintains that it is Woodward and Evans who invented the lightbulb.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada |author-link=Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada |date=2021 |title=Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship |publisher=Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada = Immigration, réfugiés et citoyenneté Canada |url=https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/ircc/migration/ircc/english/pdf/pub/discover.pdf |access-date=2024-08-15 |isbn=978-0-660-39273-8}}</ref>
<!--Anything after 1877 belongs in a later section.-->

===Commercialization===

====Carbon filament and vacuum====
[[File:carbonfilament.jpg|thumb|left|Carbon filament lamps, showing darkening of bulb]]
[[File:Joseph Wilson Swan.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Sir Joseph Wilson Swan]]]]
[[Joseph Swan]] (1828–1914) was a British physicist and chemist. In 1850, he began working with carbonized paper filaments in an evacuated glass bulb. By 1860, he was able to demonstrate a working device but the lack of a good vacuum and an adequate supply of electricity resulted in a short lifetime for the bulb and an inefficient source of light. By the mid-1870s better pumps had become available, and Swan returned to his experiments.<ref name="guarnieri 7-1">{{Cite journal|last=Guarnieri|first=M.|year=2015|title=Switching the Light: From Chemical to Electrical|journal=IEEE Industrial Electronics Magazine|volume=9|issue=3|pages=44–47|doi=10.1109/MIE.2015.2454038|hdl=11577/3164116|s2cid=2986686|url=https://www.research.unipd.it/bitstream/11577/3164116/5/21%20LightElectric.pdf|hdl-access=free|access-date=2 September 2019|archive-date=14 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214220606/https://www.research.unipd.it/retrieve/handle/11577/3164116/225053/21%20LightElectric.pdf|url-status=live | issn=1932-4529 }}</ref>

[[File:Sir Joseph Swan blue plaque.jpg|thumb|Historical plaque at [[Underhill, Low Fell, Gateshead|Underhill]], the first house to be lit by electric lights]]
With the help of [[Charles Stearn]], an expert on vacuum pumps, in 1878, Swan developed a method of processing that avoided the early bulb blackening. This received a British Patent in 1880.<ref name="Incandescent Electric Lamp 21-25">{{cite book |last=Swan |first=K R |title=Sir Joseph Swan and the Invention of the Incandescent Electric Lamp |year=1946 |publisher=Longmans, Green and Co. |pages=21–25}}</ref> On 18 December 1878, a lamp using a slender carbon rod was shown at a meeting of the [[Newcastle Chemical Society]], and Swan gave a working demonstration at their meeting on 17 January 1879.<ref name=RSoC>{{Cite web |website=Royal society of chemistry |title=Reward offered for oldest working light bulb in a British home |date=30 January 2009 |url=https://www.rsc.org/news-events/articles/2009/01-january/light-bulb/ |access-date=9 March 2025}}</ref> It was also shown to 700 who attended a meeting of the [[Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne]] on 3 February 1879.<ref name=WIRED>{{cite magazine |title=Dec. 18, 1878: Let There Be Light — Electric Light |url=https://www.wired.com/2009/12/1218joseph-swan-electric-bulb/ |date=18 December 2009 |magazine=WIRED |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021003405/https://www.wired.com/2009/12/1218joseph-swan-electric-bulb/ |archive-date=21 October 2016}}</ref><ref name=RSoC/> The society's building was the first public building to be lit by electricity. The lamps Swan demonstrated used a carbon rod from an arc lamp rather than a slender filament. Thus they had low resistance and required very large conductors to supply the necessary current, so they were not commercially practical, although they did furnish a demonstration of the possibilities of incandescent lighting with relatively high vacuum, a carbon conductor, and platinum lead-in wires. This bulb lasted about 40 hours.<ref name=WIRED/>

Swan then turned his attention to producing a better carbon filament and the means of attaching its ends. He devised a method of treating cotton to produce 'parchmentised thread' in the early 1880s and obtained British Patent 4933 that same year.<ref name="Incandescent Electric Lamp 21-25"/> From this year he began installing light bulbs in homes and landmarks in England. His house, [[Underhill, Low Fell, Gateshead]], was the first in the world to be lit by a lightbulb. In the early 1880s he had started his company.<ref>R.C. Chirnside. Sir Joseph Wilson Swan FRS – The Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne 1979.</ref> In 1881, the [[Savoy Theatre]] in the [[City of Westminster]], London was lit by Swan incandescent lightbulbs, which was the first theatre, and the first public building in the world, to be lit entirely by electricity.<ref name=Times>"The Savoy Theatre", ''[[The Times]]'', 3 October 1881</ref> The first street in the world to be lit by an incandescent lamps was Mosley Street, [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], [[United Kingdom]] in 1880.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/special-collections/exhibitions/current-and-past-exhibitions/very_truly_yours/science/swan/electric_light/ |title=Electric lighting |publisher=Newcastle University Library |date=23 October 2013|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606212620/http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/special-collections/exhibitions/current-and-past-exhibitions/very_truly_yours/science/swan/electric_light/ |archive-date=6 June 2014}}</ref><ref>[[:commons:File:Sir Joseph William Swan FRS (RSC National Chemical Landmark).jpg|Sir Joseph William Swan FRS (RSC National Chemical Landmark)]]{{Circular reference|date=September 2021}}</ref>
[[File:Edison, Maxim, and Swan bulbs.svg|thumb|Comparison of Edison, Maxim, and Swan bulbs, 1885]]
[[File:Edison incandescent lights.jpg|thumb|left|Edison carbon filament lamps, early 1880s]]
[[File:Thomas edison glühbirne.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Thomas Alva Edison]]]]
[[Thomas Edison]] began serious research into developing a practical incandescent lamp in 1878. Edison filed his first patent application for "Improvement in Electric Lights" on 14 October 1878.<ref>{{US patent|0214636}}.</ref> After many experiments, first with [[carbon]] in the early 1880s and then with [[platinum]] and other metals, in the end Edison returned to a carbon filament.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The story of great inventions |last=Burns |first=Elmer Ellsworth |url=https://archive.org/details/storygreatinven01burngoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/storygreatinven01burngoog/page/n146 123] |year=1910 |publisher=[[Harper & Brothers]]}}</ref> The first successful test was on 22 October 1879,<ref>{{cite book |first=Paul |last=Israel |title=Edison: a Life of Invention |url=https://archive.org/details/edisonlifeofinve0000isra |url-access=registration |publisher=Wiley |year=1998 |page=[https://archive.org/details/edisonlifeofinve0000isra/page/186 186]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Thomas Edison: Original Letters and Primary Sources |url=http://www.shapell.org/btl.aspx?2718806 |publisher=Shapell Manuscript Foundation |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119173416/http://www.shapell.org/btl.aspx?2718806 |archive-date=19 January 2012}}</ref> and lasted 13.5 hours. Edison continued to improve this design and by 4 November 1879, filed for a US patent for an electric lamp using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected ... to platina contact wires."<ref name=Patent898>{{US patent|0223898}} granted 27 January 1880</ref> Although the patent described several ways of creating the carbon filament including using "cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiled in various ways,"<ref name="Patent898"/> Edison and his team later discovered that a carbonized bamboo filament could last more than 1200 hours.<ref>{{cite book |last=Levy |first=Joel |title=Really useful: the origins of everyday things |year=2002 |publisher=Firefly Books |location=New York |isbn=9781552976227 |page=[https://archive.org/details/reallyusefulorig00levy/page/124 124] |url=https://archive.org/details/reallyusefulorig00levy|url-access=registration |quote=bamboo filament edison patent 1200. }}</ref> In 1880, the [[Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company]] steamer, [[SS Columbia (1880)|''Columbia'']], became the first application for Edison's incandescent electric lamps (it was also the first ship to use a [[dynamo]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Belyk |first=Robert C. |title=Great Shipwrecks of the Pacific Coast |location=New York |publisher=Wiley |year=2001 |isbn=0-471-38420-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Jehl |first=Francis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FSNVAAAAMAAJ&q=ss+columbia |title=Menlo Park reminiscences, Volume 2 |publisher=Edison's institute |year=1936 |page=564 |access-date=18 October 2020 |archive-date=3 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103065132/https://books.google.com/books?id=FSNVAAAAMAAJ&q=ss+columbia |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Dalton">{{cite book |last=Dalton |first=Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LOQ67VeU3WwC&pg=PA63 |title=A Long, Dangerous Coastline: Shipwreck Tales from Alaska to California |publisher=Heritage House Publishing Company |year=2011 |page=63 |isbn=9781926936116 |access-date=18 October 2016 |archive-date=22 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522055052/https://books.google.com/books?id=LOQ67VeU3WwC&pg=PA63 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Albon Man, a New York lawyer, started [[Electro-Dynamic Light Company]] in 1878 to exploit his patents and those of [[William E. Sawyer|William Sawyer]].<ref name=EE1890>{{cite book |title=Electrical Engineer, Volume 10 |chapter=Reports of Companies |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GbNNAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA72 |date=16 July 1890 |publisher=Electrical Engineer |quote=The Consolidated Company was the successor of the Electro-Dynamic Light Company of New York, the first company organized in the United States for the manufacture and sale of electric incandescent lamps, and the owner of a large number of patents of date prior to those upon which rival companies were depending. ... The United States Electric Lighting Company was organized in 1878, a few weeks after the Electro-Dynamic Company |page=72 |access-date=18 October 2016 |archive-date=26 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126140751/https://books.google.com/books?id=GbNNAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA72 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=ER1890>{{cite book |title=Electrical Review, Volume 16 |chapter=Electric Light News |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wdVFAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA3-PA9 |date=19 July 1890 |publisher=Delano |quote=The United States Electric Lighting Company was organized in 1878, a few weeks after the Electro-Dynamic Light Company |page=9 |access-date=18 October 2016 |archive-date=27 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127181438/https://books.google.com/books?id=wdVFAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA3-PA9 |url-status=live }}</ref> Weeks later the [[United States Electric Lighting Company]] was organized.<ref name=EE1890/><ref name=ER1890/><ref name=WE1890>{{cite book |title=Western Electrician |chapter=The Westinghouse Electric Company |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m3oxAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA36 |date=19 July 1890 |publisher=Electrician Publishing Company |quote=The United States Electric Lighting Company was organized in 1878 a few weeks after the Electro-Dynamic company, and was the successor of the oldest company in the United States for the manufacture of electric power apparatus |page=36 |access-date=18 October 2016 |archive-date=27 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170127060947/https://books.google.com/books?id=m3oxAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA36 |url-status=live }}</ref> This company did not make their first commercial installation of incandescent lamps until the fall of 1880, at the Mercantile Safe Deposit Company in New York City, about six months after the Edison incandescent lamps had been installed on the ''Columbia''. [[Hiram S. Maxim]] was the chief engineer at the US Electric Lighting Co.<ref>The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, Vol VI 1896, p. 34</ref> After the great success in the United States, the incandescent light bulb patented by Edison also began to gain widespread popularity in [[Europe]] as well; among other places, the first Edison light bulbs in the [[Nordic countries]] were installed at the weaving hall of the [[Finlayson (company)|Finlayson]]'s textile factory in [[Tampere, Finland]] in March 1882.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://innovationcapital.fi/innovation-story/a-history-of-continuous-change-and-innovation|title=A history of continuous change and innovation|first=Mika|last=Kautonen|work=Smart Tampere Ecosystem|date=18 November 2015|access-date=9 December 2021|archive-date=9 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209035220/http://innovationcapital.fi/innovation-story/a-history-of-continuous-change-and-innovation|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 4 March 1880, just five months after Edison's light bulb, [[Alessandro Cruto]] developed a process to create thin carbon filaments by heating thin platinum filaments in the presence of gaseous [[ethyl alcohol]] to coat them with pure graphite, and then [[Sublimation (phase transition)|sublimating]] the platinum at high temperatures. In 1882 at the Munich Electrical Exhibition in Bavaria, Germany Cruto demonstrated bulbs that were more efficient than Edison's and produced a better, whiter light.<ref>https://ilglobo.com/news/alessandro-crutos-incandescent-light-bulb-33135/ {{dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref>

[[Lewis Latimer]], employed at the time by Edison, developed an improved method of heat-treating carbon filaments which reduced breakage and allowed them to be molded into novel shapes, such as the characteristic "M" shape of Maxim filaments. On 17 January 1882, Latimer received a patent for the "Process of Manufacturing Carbons", an improved method for the production of light bulb filaments, which was purchased by the United States Electric Light Company.<ref>{{US patent|252386|U.S. Patent 252, 386 ''Process OF Manufacturing Carbons.'' by Lewis H. Latimer. Application on 19 February 1881}}</ref> Latimer patented other improvements such as a better way of attaching filaments to their wire supports.<ref name="Fouché">Fouché, Rayvon, ''Black Inventors in the Age of Segregation: Granville T. Woods, Lewis H. Latimer, and Shelby J. Davidson.'') (Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore & London, 2003, pp. 115–116. {{ISBN|0-8018-7319-3}}</ref>

In Britain, the Edison and Swan companies merged into the [[Edison and Swan United Electric Company]] (later known as Ediswan, and ultimately incorporated into [[Thorn Lighting Ltd]]). Edison was initially against this combination, but Edison was eventually forced to cooperate and the merger was made. Eventually, Edison acquired all of Swan's interest in the company. Swan sold his US patent rights to the [[Brush Electric Company]] in June 1882.

[[File:Light bulb.png|thumb|left|upright|{{US patent|0223898}} by [[Thomas Edison]] for an improved electric lamp, 27 January 1880]]
The [[United States Patent and Trademark Office|United States Patent Office]] gave a ruling 8 October 1883, that Edison's patents were based on the prior art of [[William E. Sawyer|William Sawyer]] and were invalid. Litigation continued for a number of years. Eventually on 6 October 1889, a judge ruled that Edison's electric light improvement claim for "a filament of carbon of high resistance" was valid.<ref>Consol. Elec. Light Co v. McKeesport Light Co, 40 F. 21 (C.C.W.D. Pa. 1889) aff'd, 159 U.S. 465, 16 S. Ct. 75, 40 L. Ed. 221 (1895).</ref>

In 1893, [[Heinrich Göbel]] claimed he had designed the first incandescent light bulb in 1854, with a thin carbonized [[bamboo]] filament of high resistance, platinum lead-in wires in an all-glass envelope, and a high vacuum. Judges of four courts raised doubts about the alleged Göbel [[anticipation (patent law)|anticipation]], but there was never a decision in a final hearing due to the expiration of Edison's patent. Research work published in 2007 concluded that the story of the Göbel lamps in the 1850s is fictitious.<ref name="roh07">{{cite book |first=Hans-Christian |last=Rohde |title=Die Göbel-Legende – Der Kampf um die Erfindung der Glühlampe |language=de |publisher=zu Klampen |location=Springe |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-86674-006-8 |oclc=85243650}}</ref>

The main difficulty with evacuating the lamps was moisture inside the bulb, which [[Water splitting|split]] when the lamp was lit, with resulting oxygen attacking the filament.<ref name="lamptech">{{cite web|url=http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Documents/IN%20Getters.htm |title=Getters |publisher=Lamptech.co.uk |date= |access-date=2022-08-18}}</ref> In the 1880s, [[phosphoric anhydride]] was used in combination with expensive [[mercury vacuum pump]]s.<ref name="HS1927">{{cite web | url=https://bulbs.2yr.net/history-of-the-incandescent-lamp-chapter4.php | title=2yr.net - Antique & Vintage Light Bulb Collection Museum - History of the Incandescent Lamp - by John W. Howell and Henry Schroeder (1927) Chapter 4: The Vacuum, Getters and the Gas Filled Lamp }}</ref> However, about 1893, Italian inventor {{ill|Arturo Malignani|it}} (1865–1939), who lacked these pumps, discovered that phosphorus vapours did the job of chemically binding the remaining amounts of water and oxygen.<ref name="lamptech" /><ref name="HS1927" /> In 1896 he patented a process of introducing [[red phosphorus]] as the so-called [[getter]]  inside the bulb <ref name="lamptech" />), which allowed obtaining economic bulbs lasting 800 hours; his patent was acquired by Edison in 1898.<ref name="guarnieri 7-1"/>

In 1897, German physicist and chemist [[Walther Nernst]] developed the [[Nernst lamp]], a form of incandescent lamp that used a ceramic [[globar]] and did not require enclosure in a vacuum or inert gas.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Allan |last=Mills |title=The Nernst Lamp. Electrical Conductivity in Non-Metallic Materials |journal=ERittenhouse |volume=24 |issue=1 |date=June 2013 |url=http://www.erittenhouse.org/artitcles/the-nernst-lamp/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130717015135/http://www.erittenhouse.org/artitcles/the-nernst-lamp/ |archive-date=17 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Walther Nernst Chronology |url=http://www.nernst.de/chronology.htm |work=nernst.de |access-date=18 January 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222122341/http://nernst.de/chronology.htm |archive-date=22 February 2015}}</ref> Twice as efficient as carbon filament lamps, Nernst lamps were briefly popular until overtaken by lamps using metal filaments.

==== Metal filament, inert gas ====
[[File:Squirrel Cage filament lamp.jpg|thumb|upright|A tantalum lamp with a 1 meter long filament.]]

US575002A patent on 01.Dec.1897 to Alexander Lodyguine (Lodygin, Russia) describes filament made of rare metals, amongst them was tungsten. Lodygin invented a process where rare metals such as tungsten can be chemically treated and heat-vaporized onto an electrically heated thread-like wire (platinum, carbon, gold) acting as a temporary base or skeletal form. (US patent 575,002). Lodygin later sold the patent rights to GE.

In 1902, [[Siemens]] developed a [[tantalum]] lamp filament that was more efficient than even graphitized carbon filaments since they could operate at higher temperature. Since tantalum metal has a lower resistivity than carbon, the tantalum lamp filament was quite long and required multiple internal supports. The metal filament gradually shortened in use; the filaments were installed with large slack loops. Lamps used for several hundred hours became quite fragile.<ref>I. C. S. Reference Library Volume 4B, Scranton, [[International Textbook Company]], 1908, no ISBN</ref> Metal filaments had the property of breaking and re-welding, though this would usually decrease resistance and shorten the life of the filament. General Electric bought the rights to use tantalum filaments and produced them in the US until 1913.<ref>{{cite web|title=GE Tantalum Filament 25W of American Design|url=http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Spec%20Sheets/IN%20TA%20GE%2025W.htm|publisher=Museum of Electric Lamp Technology|access-date=17 June 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113175731/http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Spec%20Sheets/IN%20TA%20GE%2025W.htm|archive-date=13 November 2012}}</ref>

From 1898 to around 1905, [[osmium]] was also used as a filament in lamps made by [[Carl Auer von Welsbach]]. The metal was so expensive that used lamps could be returned for partial credit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.frognet.net/~ejcov/osmium.html|title=The Osmium Filament Lamp|work=frognet.net |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012030517/http://home.frognet.net/~ejcov/osmium.html |archive-date=12 October 2008}}</ref> It could not be made for 110&nbsp;V or 220&nbsp;V so several lamps were wired in series for use on standard voltage circuits. These were primarily sold in Europe.

====Tungsten filament====
[[File:Dr. Just Sándor és Hanaman Ferenc.jpg|thumb|upright|Hanaman (left) and Just (right), the inventors of the tungsten bulbs]]
[[File:Tungsram advertisement.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] advertising of the [[Tungsram]]-bulb from 1906. This was the first light bulb that used a filament made from [[tungsten]] instead of carbon. The inscription reads: ''wire lamp with a drawn wire – indestructible''.]]

On 13 December 1904, [[Hungary|Hungarian]] [[Sándor Just]] and [[Croats|Croatian]] [[Franjo Hanaman]] were granted a Hungarian patent (No. 34541) for a [[tungsten]] filament lamp that lasted longer and gave brighter light than the carbon filament.<ref name="guarnieri 7-1"/> Tungsten filament lamps were first marketed by the [[Hungary|Hungarian]] company [[Tungsram]] in 1904. This type is often called Tungsram-bulbs in many European countries.<ref>{{cite web|title=The History of Tungsram|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050530094858/http://www.tungsram.hu/tungsram/downloads/tungsram/tu_short_history_1896-1996.pdf |archive-date=30 May 2005|url=http://www.tungsram.hu/tungsram/downloads/tungsram/tu_short_history_1896-1996.pdf}}</ref> Filling a bulb with an [[inert gas]] such as [[argon]] or [[nitrogen]] slows down the evaporation of the tungsten filament compared to operating it in a vacuum. This allows for greater temperatures and therefore greater [[Luminous efficacy|efficacy]] with less reduction in filament life.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Giridharan|first1=M. K.|title=Electrical Systems Design|date=2010|publisher=I. K. International|location=New Delhi|isbn=9789380578057|page=25|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tt6G60zZF3cC&pg=PA25|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102022536/https://books.google.com/books?id=Tt6G60zZF3cC&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25|archive-date=2 January 2016}}</ref>

In 1906, [[William D. Coolidge]] developed a method of making "ductile tungsten" from [[sintered]] [[tungsten]] which could be made into filaments while working for [[General Electric|General Electric Company]].<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1557/S0883769400045164| journal = MRS Bulletin| volume =20 | issue = 8 | year = 1995 | pages = 67–73| title = The Coolidge Process for Making Tungsten Ductile: The Foundation of Incandescent Lighting | first1 = C.L. |last1= Briant and | first2 =Bernard P. | last2=Bewlay| bibcode = 1995MRSBu..20...67B| s2cid = 138257279}}</ref> By 1911 General Electric had begun selling incandescent light bulbs with ductile tungsten wire.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Nair|first1=Govind B.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=znbhDwAAQBAJ&q=By+1911+incandescent+light+bulbs+with+ductile+tungsten+wire&pg=PA22|title=The Fundamentals and Applications of Light-Emitting Diodes: The Revolution in the Lighting Industry|last2=Dhoble|first2=Sanjay J.|date=9 July 2020|publisher=Woodhead Publishing|isbn=978-0-12-823161-6|page=22|language=en|access-date=5 August 2021|archive-date=17 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817015813/https://books.google.com/books?id=znbhDwAAQBAJ&q=By+1911+incandescent+light+bulbs+with+ductile+tungsten+wire&pg=PA22|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1913, [[Irving Langmuir]] found that filling a lamp with [[inert gas]] (nitrogen at first, and later argon) instead of a vacuum resulted in twice the luminous efficacy and reduced bulb blackening.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}. He patented his device on April 18, 1916.<ref>[https://www.aps.org/archives/publications/apsnews/200304/history.cfm April 18, 1916: Langmuir Patents the Incandescent Lamp]</ref>

In 1917, [[Burnie Lee Benbow]] was granted a patent for the ''coiled coil filament'', in which a coiled filament is then itself wrapped into a coil by use of a [[mandrel]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Burnie Lee Benbow|url=http://home.frognet.net/~ejcov/benbow10.html|website=frognet|access-date=19 February 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612194145/http://home.frognet.net/~ejcov/benbow10.html|archive-date=12 June 2012}}</ref><ref>Benbow, B.L., {{US patent|1247068|US patent 1247068: "Filament"}}, filed 4 October 1913</ref> In 1921, [[Junichi Miura]] created the first double-coil bulb using a coiled coil tungsten filament while working for [[Hakunetsusha]] (a predecessor of [[Toshiba]]). At the time, machinery to mass-produce coiled coil filaments did not exist. Hakunetsusha developed a method to mass-produce coiled coil filaments by 1936.<ref>{{cite web|title=Trial Production of the World's First Double-Coil Bulb|url=http://toshiba-mirai-kagakukan.jp/en/learn/history/ichigoki/1921lamp/index.htm|website=Toshiba|publisher=TOSHIBA CORP|access-date=19 February 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219184124/http://toshiba-mirai-kagakukan.jp/en/learn/history/ichigoki/1921lamp/index.htm|archive-date=19 February 2017}}</ref>

Between 1924 and the outbreak of the Second World War, the [[Phoebus cartel]] attempted to fix prices and sales quotas for bulb manufacturers outside of North America.<ref name=ieee-bulb>{{Cite journal
  |title=The Great Lightbulb Conspiracy
  |journal=[[IEEE Spectrum]]
  |date=24 September 2014
|author=Markus Krajewski
  |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-great-lightbulb-conspiracy
  |access-date=3 November 2017
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029040239/https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-history/dawn-of-electronics/the-great-lightbulb-conspiracy
  |archive-date=29 October 2017
|url-status=live
  }}</ref>

In 1925, [[Marvin Pipkin]], an American chemist, patented a process for [[Frosted glass|frost]]ing the inside of lamp bulbs without weakening them.<ref name=10Kaccident>{{cite magazine |last= Payne |first= Kenneth Wilcox |date= 1927 |title= A $10,000 Accident |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ICoDAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Marvin+Pipkin%22+awarded+the+Charles+A.+Coffin+award&pg=PA24 |page= 24 |magazine= Popular Science |location= New York City |publisher= Bonnier Corporation |access-date= 31 July 2020 |archive-date= 4 February 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210204021048/https://books.google.com/books?id=ICoDAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Marvin+Pipkin%22+awarded+the+Charles+A.+Coffin+award&pg=PA24 |url-status= live }}</ref> In 1947, he patented a process for coating the inside of lamps with [[silica]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bonnier Corp |title=Popular Science |journal=The Popular Science Monthly |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lSQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA125 |date=March 1949 |page=125 |publisher=Bonnier Corporation |issn=0161-7370 |access-date=4 January 2021 |archive-date=4 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204011225/https://books.google.com/books?id=lSQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA125 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1930, [[Hungary|Hungarian]] [[Imre Bródy]] filled lamps with krypton gas rather than argon, and designed a process to obtain krypton from air. Production of krypton filled lamps based on his invention started at [[Ajka]] in 1937, in a factory co-designed by Polányi and Hungarian-born physicist [[Egon Orowan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://energyhistory.energosolar.com/en_20th_century_electric_history.htm |title=Ganz and Tungsram – the 20th century|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330212227/http://energyhistory.energosolar.com/en_20th_century_electric_history.htm |archive-date=30 March 2009}}</ref>{{Full citation needed |date=November 2024}}

By 1964, improvements in efficiency and production of incandescent lamps had reduced the cost of providing a given quantity of light by a factor of thirty, compared with the cost at introduction of Edison's lighting system.<ref name="GETP110">''Incandescent Lamps, Publication Number TP-110'', General Electric Company, Nela Park, Cleveland, OH (1964) pg. 3</ref>

Consumption of incandescent light bulbs grew rapidly in the US. In 1885, an estimated 300,000 general lighting service lamps were sold, all with carbon filaments. When tungsten filaments were introduced, about 50 million lamp sockets existed in the US. In 1914, 88.5 million lamps were used, (only 15% with carbon filaments), and by 1945, annual sales of lamps were 795 million (more than 5 lamps per person per year).<ref name=Kane2001>Raymond Kane, Heinz Sell ''Revolution in lamps: a chronicle of 50 years of progress (2nd ed.)'', The Fairmont Press, Inc. 2001 {{ISBN|0-88173-378-4}} page 37, table 2-1</ref>