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The Light and the Electron

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The Light and the Electron

The Light and the Electron

The discovery of the electron and the invention of the incandescent light bulb are among the most exciting and valuable innovations in human history. The incandescent light bulb produces light, and it is a very durable version of the earliest of light sources. Light bulbs and electrons go hand in hand as the electron plays a very important role in producing light. Both came into fruition during the 19th century, and our knowledge of both has improved greatly since their arrival into human history. The discovery of the electron today has paved the way for unparalleled advances in particle sciences, while the light bulb has come a very long way in the advancement of energy conservation and efficiency.
The incandescent light bulb, which many inaccurate accounts of history credit Thomas Edison with the invention of, actually had several inventors who built models of it before Edison. In 1809, Humphry Davy invented the first electric light bulb. He connected wires to a battery, and subsequently connected a strip of charcoal to the opposite ends of the wires. Miraculously, the tiny amount of charcoal produced light, and became known as the arc lamp. However, the arc lamp was not what historians deem as a true incandescent light bulb. The first true incandescent light bulb was invented by a German watchmaker named Henricg Globel, and he used carbonized bamboo as a filament (Bellis, n.d.). Leading historians have actually created a list of 22 inventors who accomplished this feat before Thomas Edison. Edison was, however, the first to create the industry standard of the incandescent light bulb on account of the durability of his model. He tried many different filaments inside an oxygen-vacant (reducing oxidation drastically) glass bulb while on his way to accomplishing his goal of producing a durable light bulb.

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