There are different answers to this seemingly simple question. The Americans will undoubtedly insist that it was Edison. The British will say that this is their compatriot Swann. The French may remember the “Russian light” of the inventor Yablochkov, who began illuminating the streets and squares of Paris in 1877. Someone will name another Russian inventor - Lodygin. There will probably be other answers. So who is right? Yes, perhaps that's all. History of the light bulb represents a whole chain of discoveries and inventions made by different people at different times.
Before moving on to the chronology of the invention of the electric light bulb, I would like to note what we mean by the term “electric light bulb”. First of all, it is a light source, a device in which electrical energy is converted into light. But the conversion methods may be different. In the 19th century, several of these methods were known. Therefore, even then several types of electric lamps appeared: arc, incandescent and gas-discharge. An electric lamp is a technical system, i.e. a set of individual elements necessary to perform the main useful function - lighting.
The history of the appearance and development of the electric lamp is inseparable from the history of electrical engineering, which begins with the discovery of electric current in the 18th century. Later, in the 19th century, a wave of discoveries related to electricity swept across the world. It was like a chain reaction, with one discovery opening the way for the next. Electrical engineering from the section of physics became an independent science, on the development of which a whole galaxy of scientists and inventors worked: the Frenchman Andre Marie Ampere, the Germans Georg Ohm and Heinrich Rudolf Hertz), Englishmen Michael Faraday and James Maxwell and others.
The amazing 19th century, which laid the foundations for the scientific and technological revolution that so changed the world, began with the invention of a chemical source of current (voltaic column). The Italian scientist A. Volta celebrated the new year of 1800 with this extremely important invention. And already in 1801, professor of the St. Petersburg Medical-Surgical Academy Vasily Petrov managed to persuade his superiors to purchase for his physics office the most powerful electric battery at that time, consisting of 4200 pairs of galvanic elements. Conducting experiments with this battery, Petrov in 1802 discovered an electric arc - a bright discharge that occurs between carbon electrode rods brought together at a certain distance. He also suggested using an arc for lighting.
However, many difficulties arose in the practical implementation of this idea. Experiments have shown that the arc burns brightly and steadily only at a certain distance between the electrodes. And while the arc is burning, the carbon electrodes gradually burn out, increasing the arc gap. A regulator mechanism was required to maintain a constant distance between the electrodes.
Inventors proposed different solutions. But they all had the disadvantage that it was impossible to connect several lamps in one circuit. We had to use a separate power source for each lamp. This problem was solved in 1856 by the inventor A.I. Shpakovsky, creating a lighting installation with eleven arc lamps equipped with original regulators. This installation illuminated Red Square in Moscow during the coronation of Alexander II.
In 1869, another Russian inventor V.I. Chikolev applied a differential regulator to an arc lamp and used it in powerful marine searchlights. Similar regulators are still used today in large floodlight installations. Unfortunately, all arc controls were unreliable and expensive.
The Russian electrical engineer Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov played a decisive role in the transition from experiments in electricity to mass electric lighting. Yablochkov began his work in Russia, organizing a workshop of physical instruments in St. Petersburg in 1875. In the same year, he came up with the idea to create a simple and reliable arc lamp. However, the financial collapse of the enterprise forced Yablochkov to leave for Paris in 1876, where he continued his work on the arc lamp at the famous watch and precision instrument manufacturer Breguet.
The problem was still the same - a regulator was needed. The idea came unexpectedly, as always. Chance helped. Thinking intensely about this problem, Yablochkov went to have a snack at a small Parisian cafe. The waiter arrived. Yablochkov, continuing to think about his own things, mechanically watched as he put down the dish, put down the spoon, fork, knife... And suddenly... Yablochkov abruptly rose from the table and went to the exit. He hurried to his workshop. The solution has been found! Simple and reliable! It came to him as soon as he glanced at the cutlery lying next to it, parallel to each other.
Yes, this is exactly how the carbon electrodes should be placed in the lamp - not horizontally, as in all previous designs, but parallel (!). Then both will burn out exactly the same, and the distance between them will always be constant. And no complex regulators are needed.
The Parisian waiter had no idea that he had become a co-author of the invention. But who knows, if he had not then placed the knife and spoon so carefully in front of Yablochkov, perhaps the lightning-quick guess would not have dawned on the inventor. True, the waiter's "hint" found fertile ground. After all, Yablochkov was looking for his solution even at a cafe table, waiting for his order. By the way, this is an excellent example of the use of associative thinking in solving a complex technical problem. On the other hand, this case is an example of solving a technical problem, when an ideal device (in this case, a regulator) is something that actually does not exist, but the functions are performed.
Of course, this was only an idea, and not a complete solution to the problem - creating an inexpensive and reliable lamp. It took a lot more work to achieve this. First of all, with a parallel arrangement of electrodes, the arc can burn not only at the ends of the electrodes, but along their entire length, and most likely, it will roll down to their base - to the current-carrying terminals. This problem was solved by filling the space between the electrodes with an insulator, which gradually burned out along with the electrodes.
The composition of this insulator still had to be selected, which was done by using clay (kaolin). How to light a lamp? Then, at the top, between the electrodes, a thin carbon jumper was placed, which burned at the moment of switching on, igniting the arc. There was still the problem of uneven combustion of the electrodes, associated with the polarity of the current. Because the “+” electrode burned out faster; initially it had to be made thicker. Another ingenious solution to this problem was the use of alternating current.
The design of the arc lamp turned out to be simple: two carbon rods separated by an insulating layer of kaolin and mounted on a simple stand resembling a candlestick. The electrodes burned evenly, and the lamp gave a bright light, and for quite a long time. This “electric candle” was easy to make and inexpensive.
In 1876, the Russian inventor presented his invention at the London Exhibition. A year later, the enterprising Frenchman Deneyrouz achieved the establishment of the joint-stock company “Society for the Study of Electric Lighting Using Yablochkov’s Methods.” Yablochkov's lamps appeared in the most visited places in Paris, on the street - Avenue de l'Opéra and on the Place de l'Opéra, as well as in the Louvre store; dim gas and liquid lighting were replaced by matte balls that glowed with white, soft light. The triumphant procession of "La lumiere russe" (Russian light) around the world. In two years, Yablochkov’s candle conquered the entire Old World, spreading in the East to the palaces of the Persian Shah and the King of Cambodia.
Rice. 1. Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov and his candle.
In 1876-77, several French patents were received, both for the design of the light bulb itself and for their power supply systems. Production was put on an industrial basis. A small factory in Paris produced more than 8,000 candles per day and several dozen electrical generators per month. However, soon all this prosperity came to an end. The Yablochkov candle began to be gradually replaced by a cheaper and more durable incandescent lamp.
It is generally accepted that the inventor of the incandescent lamp is the famous American inventor Thomas Alva Edison. On December 21, 1879, an article appeared in the New York Herald newspaper about T.A. Edison's new invention - "Edison's light", an incandescent lamp with a carbon filament. A few days later, on January 1, 1880, 3 thousand people were present in Menlo Park (USA) at a demonstration of electric lighting for houses and streets. And on January 27 of the same year, he received US patent No. 223898 “Electric-Lamp” (see Fig. 2.). But in reality, the story with this patent and with the incandescent lamp is much more complex and interesting.
Rice. 2. Thomas A. Edison's electric lamp patent
The first experiments with heating conductors with electric current were carried out at the beginning of the 19th century by the English scientist Humphry Davy. One of the first attempts to apply the incandescence of conductors with current, specifically for the purpose of lighting, was carried out in 1844 by the engineer de Moleyne, who glowed a platinum wire placed inside a glass ball. These experiments did not bring the desired results, because... the platinum wire melted too quickly.
In 1845, in London, King replaced platinum with sticks of coal and received a patent “The use of incandescent metal and carbon conductors for lighting.”
In 1954, 25 years before Edison, the German watchmaker Heinrich Goebel introduced in New York the first practical incandescent carbon filament lamps with a burning life of about 200 hours. As a thread, he used charred bamboo thread 0.2 mm thick, placed in a vacuum. Instead of a flask, for reasons of economy, Goebel first used cologne bottles, and later glass tubes. He created a vacuum in a glass flask by filling and pouring out mercury, that is, using the method used in the manufacture of barometers.
Goebel used the created lamps to illuminate his watch shop. To improve his financial situation, he drove around New York in a wheelchair and invited everyone to look at the stars through a telescope. The stroller, at the same time, was decorated with his light bulbs. Thus, Goebel became the first person to use light for advertising purposes. Due to the lack of money and connections, the German emigrant was unable to obtain a patent for his lamp with a carbon filament and his invention was quickly forgotten.
Since 1872, Alexander Nikolaevich Lodygin began experiments on electric lighting in St. Petersburg. In his first lamps, a thin stick of coal was sandwiched between massive copper rods located in a hermetically sealed glass globe. Despite the imperfection of the lamp, in the same year the banker Kozlov, in partnership with Lodygin, founded a company to exploit this invention. The Academy of Sciences awarded Lodygin the Lomonosov Prize of 1000 rubles.
Incandescent lamps with a carbon rod built by Lodygin in 1874 were used to illuminate the St. Petersburg Admiralty. In 1875, Kon became the head of the partnership, releasing under his own name an improved Lodygin lamp, designed by V.F. Didrikhson. In this lamp, the embers were placed in a vacuum, and the burnt out ember was automatically replaced with another. Three such lamps were used to illuminate Florent's linen store in St. Petersburg for two months in 1875, and also, at the suggestion of P. Struve, the caissons were illuminated under water during the construction of the Alexander Bridge across the Neva.
In 1875, Didrichson began making wood coals by charring wooden cylinders without air in graphite crucibles filled with coal powder. In 1876, after the death of Cohn, the partnership dissolved. Further improvement of the lamp was made by N.P. Bulygin in 1876. His lamp glowed at the end of a long coal, which moved out automatically as its end burned. The design of the lamps turned out to be difficult and low-tech to manufacture, and therefore not cheap, although it was constantly being improved.
At the end of the 70s of the same century, ships were built for Russia at one of the North American shipyards, and when the time came to receive them, Lieutenant of the Russian Navy A.N. Khotinsky went there. He took with him several Lodygin incandescent lamps. The invention was already patented in France, Russia, Belgium, Austria and Great Britain. He showed Russian lamps to an inventor named Thomas Edison, who was also working on the problem of electric lighting at the time.
Now it is difficult to establish how much the described circumstance influenced Edison’s invention. However, in the end, thanks to his work, a quantum leap was made in the improvement of the incandescent lamp. Edison did not make any revolutionary changes to Lodygin's light bulb. His lamp was a glass flask with a carbon filament, from which the air was pumped out, although much more carefully than Lodygin's. But Edison's merit, first of all, is that he invented and created a supersystem for this lamp and put its production on stream, which led to a significant reduction in cost. He invented a screw base and a socket for a lamp, invented fuses, switches, and the first energy meter. It was with Edison's light bulb that electric lighting became truly widespread, coming into the homes of ordinary people.
Edison's approach to solving the problem of finding material for an incandescent filament deserves special attention. He simply went through all the substances and materials available to him (trial and error). Edison tried 6,000 substances containing carbon, from ordinary sewing threads coated with carbon to food and resin. The best was bamboo, from which the case of the Japanese palm fan was made. This titanic work took about two years.
On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, in England, at about the same time as Lodygin and Edison, Sir Joseph Wilson Swan was working on the electric light bulb. He used a charred cotton thread as a filament element and also pumped air out of the flask. Swann received a British patent for his device in 1878, about a year before Edison. Beginning in 1879, he began installing electric lamps in English homes. Having organized The Swan Electric Light Company in 1881, he began commercial production of lamps. Swan later teamed up with Edison to commercially exploit the single trademark "Edi-Swan".
From the above it follows that the incandescent electric lamp had several inventors at a very early stage. Almost all of them had patents. As for the most famous of them, the American Edison patent, it was declared invalid by the court before the expiration of the protective rights. The court recognized that the incandescent lamp was invented by Heinrich Hebel several decades before Edison.
In 1890, Lodygin patented in the USA a lamp with a metal filament made of refractory metals - octium, iridium, rhodium, molybdenum and tungsten. Lodygin's lamps with molybdenum filaments were exhibited at the Paris exhibition in 1900 and were such a great success that in 1906 the American company General Electric bought this patent from him. The most interesting thing is that the General Electric company was organized by Thomas Edison himself. This was the end of the correspondence dispute between the great inventors.
However, the improvement of the incandescent lamp did not end there. Since 1909, incandescent lamps with a zigzag tungsten filament began to be used, and in 1912-13 lamps filled with nitrogen and inert gases (Ar, Kr) appeared. And finally, the last improvement of the beginning of the 20th century - the tungsten filament began to be produced, first, in the form of a spiral, and then in the form of a bispiral (a spiral wound from a spiral) and a trispiral. The electric incandescent lamp has finally acquired the appearance we are used to seeing it.
So who invented the light bulb? The names have already been named: Petrov, Shpakovsky, Chikolev, Yablochkov, Edison, Devi, King, Gebel, Lodygin, Svan. It would seem enough. But if you take the “Small Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron”, published at the beginning of the 20th century, then you can read there: Incandescent light bulbs are a glass cap from which air has been pumped out, and where a carbon or metal filament is placed, heated by an electric current. Carbon filament is produced by charring bamboo fibers (Edison light bulbs), silk, and cotton paper (Swan light bulbs). Since the late 1890s. new incandescent light bulbs appeared: instead of a carbon filament, a rod pressed from fire-resistant substances is incandescent: oxides of magnesium, thorium, zirconium and yttrium (Nernst light bulb) or a filament made of metal osmium (Auer light bulbs) and tantalum (Bolton and Feuerlein light bulbs).
As you can see, new names have appeared - Nernst, Auer, Bolton, Feierlein. If desired, by conducting a more in-depth search, this list can be further expanded.
It is probably pointless to look for a definite answer to the question “Who invented the light bulb.” Many inventors contributed their intelligence, knowledge, work and talent to this. And this applies only to the types of light bulbs that were developed at the initial stage of the introduction of electric lighting: arc and incandescent.
Even at the very beginning of the development of incandescent lamps, it was noticed that they have low efficiency, i.e. a very small percentage of the energy from the electrical current is converted into light energy. Therefore, the search for other methods of converting electrical energy into light continued, and attempts were made to use them in new types of electric light sources. Such light sources were gas-discharge lamps - devices in which electrical energy is converted into optical radiation when an electric current passes through gases and other substances (for example, mercury).
The first experiments with gas-discharge lamps began almost simultaneously with incandescent lamps. In 1860, the first mercury discharge lamps appeared in England. However, until the beginning of the 20th century, all these experiments were few in number and remained only experiments, without real practical application.
In the first decade of the 20th century, during the period of mass introduction of electric lighting using incandescent lamps, work on gas-discharge lamps intensified, which led to a number of inventions and discoveries. In 1901, Peter Cooper Hewitt invents the low-pressure mercury lamp. In 1906, a high-pressure mercury lamp was invented. 1910 - discovery of the halogen cycle. The neon lamp was developed by French physicist Georges Claude in 1911 and quickly found use for advertising purposes.
In the 20s - 40s, work on gas-discharge lamps continued in many countries, which led to the improvement of already known types of lamps and the discovery of new ones. The following were developed: low pressure sodium lamp, fluorescent lamp, xenon lamp and others. In the 40s, the widespread use of fluorescent lamps for lighting began.
Later, other types of electric lamps were invented: high-pressure sodium; halogen; compact fluorescent; LED light sources and others. Now in the world the total number of types of light sources is about 2000.
Despite such a huge number of types of electric lamps, inventive thought does not stand still. Already known light sources continue to be improved. An example of such improvement is the creation in 1983 of compact fluorescent lamps, which became the size of an ordinary incandescent lamp. To turn them on, no special starting equipment is required; they are connected to a standard socket for incandescent lamps, and most importantly, with the same amount of light produced, these lamps consume several times less electricity and last several times longer. In recent years, such energy-saving light bulbs are increasingly used, despite their still higher cost than traditional incandescent lamps.
However, the inventive thought does not stop there. Almost simultaneously, two American companies Technical Consumer Products (TCP) and O·ZONELite launched fluorescent energy-saving light bulbs with new and unexpected properties. According to these manufacturers, their Fresh2 and O·ZONELite bulbs (both names are registered trademarks) in addition to illuminating the room also eliminate unpleasant odors, purify the air, and kill bacteria, viruses and fungi. Isn't it a miracle?
The secret is that the light bulbs are coated with titanium dioxide (TiO2), which, when irradiated with fluorescent light, causes a photocatalytic reaction. During this reaction, negatively charged particles called electrons are released, leaving positively charged “holes” in their place. Due to the appearance of a combination of pluses and minuses on the surface of the light bulb, water molecules contained in the air are converted into very strong oxidizing agents - hydroxide radicals (HO), which is why these light bulbs have such unusual and remarkable properties.
Rice. 3. Gas-discharge fluorescent energy-saving lamps Fresh2 and O.ZONELite
As can be seen from Figure 3, these light bulbs are even very similar in appearance, and their characteristics are approximately the same. The spiral shape of both lamps is noteworthy. Their creators did this to increase light output, just like their predecessors - the creators of incandescent lamps. Indeed, history moves in a spiral.
We can conclude that gas-discharge lamps have been gaining increasing popularity in recent years even in household lighting, displacing incandescent lamps. They consume less energy, are just as easy to use and can have a number of other wonderful and useful properties. The higher price, which still limits the spread of these lamps, is compensated by 8-10 times the service life and 3-5 times the efficiency. And with more mass production, the price will gradually decrease. And if we take into account the ever-increasing energy and environmental problems that are causing an increase in the cost of electricity and forcing the introduction of stringent cost-saving measures, it becomes clear that the prospects for compact fluorescent lamps are the brightest. And in the coming years they have practically no alternative.
But nothing stands still. Although the last 100 years in the development of lighting technology have passed under the victorious march of gas-discharge lamps, other types of light sources have also appeared. The most promising direction now seems to be related to the use of LED light sources, because they have even greater efficiency than gas-discharge lamps.
The first industrial LEDs appeared back in the 60s of the 20th century. However, their low power did not allow them to be used for lighting. They have found application as indicators in various electronic devices, in particular, in microcalculators, watches and other household and scientific instruments.
This would have continued if humanity had not faced the problem of energy conservation. It turned out that today, LEDs have the highest percentage of converting electrical energy into light energy. It was impossible not to try to use LEDs as light sources. They found, initially, application in hand-held electric flashlights. In addition, these were low-power flashlights that did not shine very much, but were miniature, which made it possible to use them even as keychains.
Of course, LED bulbs still have many problems. Many of them are being successfully resolved, especially since big capital is now investing a lot of money in this direction. And success is already evident - energy-saving LED lamps have already appeared on sale.
Literature
* 1. N.A. Kaptsov, Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov 1894-1944. OGIZ. State publishing house of technical and theoretical literature. Moscow, Leningrad, 1944.
* 2. V. Malov, How a Parisian waiter helped a Russian inventor. / Sputnik UT - popular science digest / No. 4, 2001 / http://jtdigest.narod.ru/dig4_01/offic.htm
* 3. Ya.I. Khurgin, Yes, no, maybe... - Moscow,: Science, 1977, p.208
* 4. History of lighting technology. / 2003-2005 JSC NPK Daleks / http://www.daleks.ru
* 5. Fresh2 compact fluorescent light bulbs remove odor while emitting energy efficient light./ http://www.fresh2.com/
* 6. The Bright Future of Indoor Air Quality! / http://www.ozonelite.com/index.html
The electric incandescent lamp has long become an object without which it is difficult to imagine our lives. In the evening, when entering a house or apartment, the first thing we do is flip the switch in the hallway and within a moment a bright light flashes, dispelling the darkness around us. And at the same time, we don’t think about where such an ordinary light bulb came to us from and who invented the light bulb. The electric lamp has long become commonplace for us, but once upon a time it was akin to a real miracle.
Before the invention of electricity, people lived in twilight. With the onset of darkness, the dwellings were plunged into darkness and their inhabitants, in order to somehow disperse the darkness that frightened them, lit a fire.
To illuminate houses in different countries, lamps of various designs, torches, candles, and torches were used, and fires were lit in the open air, for example, on the road or in military camps. People treasured these light sources; they invented legends and composed songs about them.
However, the inquisitive human mind already in ancient times was looking for an alternative to all these devices. After all, they all gave little light, smoked heavily, filling the room with smoke, and besides, they could go out at any minute. Archaeologists who discovered amazing paintings inside the ancient Egyptian pyramids could not help but wonder how the ancient artists made these drawings despite the fact that natural light did not penetrate into the pyramids, and no soot was found on the walls and ceiling from torches or lamps. It is likely that the answer to this question has already been found in the city of Dendera, in the temple of the goddess Hathor. It is there that there are bas-reliefs, which may depict an ancient electric lamp similar to a gas-discharge lamp.
In the 9th century AD. In the Middle East, an oil lamp was invented, which became the prototype of a kerosene lamp, but it did not become widespread and remained a rare curiosity.
Thus, until the middle of the 19th century, the most popular light sources remained oil and fat lamps, candles, lanterns and torches, and in camp conditions - the same fires as in ancient times.
The kerosene lamp, invented in the middle of the 19th century, supplanted all other sources of artificial lighting, although not for long: until the electric light bulb appeared - the most common for us, but absolutely amazing for the people of that time.
At the dawn of discovery
The operation of the first incandescent lamps was based on the principle that conductors glow when electric current is passed through them. This very property of such materials was known long before the invention of the light bulb. The problem was that for a very long time the inventors could not find a suitable material for an incandescent filament that would provide long-lasting and effective, and also inexpensive lighting.
Background to the appearance of incandescent lamps:
Who first invented the light bulb
In the 1870s, serious work began on the invention of the electric light bulb. Many prominent scientists and inventors devoted years and decades of their lives to working on this project. Lodygin, Yablochkov and Edison - these three inventors worked in parallel on the design of incandescent lamps, so disputes still continue about which of them can be considered the world's first inventor of the incandescent electric lamp.
Lamp by A. N. Lodygin
He began his experiments on the invention of the incandescent lamp in 1870 after his retirement. At the same time, the inventor was simultaneously working on several projects: creating an electric plane, a diving apparatus and a light bulb.
In 1871-1874, he conducted experiments to find the most suitable material for an incandescent coil. Having initially tried to use iron wire and failed, the inventor began experimenting with a carbon rod placed in a glass container.
In 1874, Lodygin received a patent for the incandescent lamp he invented, not only Russian, but also international, patenting his invention in many European countries and even in India and Australia.
In 1884, for political reasons, the inventor left Russia. For the next 23 years he worked alternately in France and in the USA. Even in exile, he continued to develop new designs for incandescent lamps, patenting those that used refractory metals as the material for the spiral. In 1906, Lodygin sold these patents to the General Electric Company in the USA. During his research, the inventor came to the conclusion that the best materials for incandescent filaments are tungsten and molybdenum. And the first incandescent lamps produced in the USA were made according to his design and with tungsten filament.
Yablochkov's lamp P. N.
In 1875, finding himself in Paris, he began inventing an arc lamp without a regulator. Yablochkov had begun work on this project even earlier, while living in Moscow, but failed. The capital of France became the city where he was able to achieve outstanding results.
By the beginning of the spring of 1876, the inventor completed work on the design of an electric candle, and on March 23 of the same year he received a patent for it in France. This day became significant not only in the fate of P. N. Yablochkov himself, but also a turning point for the further development of electrical and lighting engineering.
Yablochkov's candle was simpler and cheaper to operate than Lodygin's coal lamp. In addition, it did not have any springs or any mechanisms. It looked like two rods clamped in two separate terminals of a candlestick, which were separated by a kaolin partition, isolating them from each other. An arc charge was ignited at the upper ends, after which the arc flame slowly burned the coal and vaporized the insulating material, at the same time emitting a bright glow.
Later, Yablochkov tried to change the color of the lighting, for which he added salts of various metals to the insulating material for the partition.
In April 1876, the inventor demonstrated his candle at an electrical exhibition in London. The large audience was delighted with the bright bluish-white electric light that flooded the room.
The success was incredible. The scientist and his invention were written about in the foreign press. And already at the end of the 1870s, streets, shops, theaters, hippodromes, palaces and mansions were illuminated with electric candles not only in Europe, but also in the USA, Brazil, Mexico, India, Burma and Cambodia. And in Russia, the first test of Yablochkov’s electric candles took place in the fall of 1878.
It was a real triumph for the Russian inventor. After all, before his candle, there was not a single invention in the field of electrical engineering that would so quickly become popular throughout the world.
Edison lamp T.A.
He conducted his experiments with incandescent lamps in the late 1870s, that is, he worked on this project simultaneously with Lodygin and Yablochkov.
In April 1879, Edison experimentally came to the conclusion that without a vacuum, none of the incandescent lamps would work, or if they did, it would be extremely short-lived. And already in October of the same year, an American researcher completed work on a project for a carbon incandescent lamp, which is considered one of the most important inventions of the 19th century.
In 1882, together with several prominent financiers, the inventor founded the company Edison General Electric c, where they began to manufacture various electrical appliances. To win the market, Edison even went so far as to set the selling price of the lamp at 40 cents, despite the fact that its production cost 110 cents. Subsequently, the inventor suffered losses for four years, although he tried to reduce the cost of incandescent lamps. And when the cost of their production dropped to 22 cents, and the output reached a million pieces, he was able to cover all previous costs within a year, so that further production brought him only profit.
But what was Edison's innovation in inventing the incandescent lamp, other than the fact that he was the first to consider this subject as a means of making a profit? His merit lies not at all in the invention of lamps of this type, but in the fact that he was the first to create a practical and widespread system of electric lighting. And he came up with the modern, familiar shape of the lamp to all of us, as well as a screw base, socket and fuses.
Thomas Edison was distinguished by his high efficiency and always took a very responsible approach to business. So, in order to finally decide on the choice of material for the incandescent filament, he tried more than six thousand samples until he came to the conclusion that the most suitable material for this was carbonized bamboo.
Based on chronology, the inventor of the light bulb is Lodygin. It was he who invented the first lamp for lighting, and he was the first who guessed to pump out air from a glass bulb and use tungsten as an incandescent filament. Yablochkov’s “electric candle” is based on slightly different operating principles and does not require a vacuum, but for the first time, streets and premises began to be illuminated en masse with his candles. As for Edison, it was he who invented the lamp of modern forms, as well as the base, socket and fuses. Therefore, while giving the palm of invention to the first of these three inventors, the role of other researchers cannot be underestimated.
Alexander Nikolaevich Lodygin (10/18/1847-03/16/1923)
Magic light was invented in Russia
Svetlana Makarova, newspaper “Pensioner and Society”, No. 11, 2007
My dear editors! First of all, thank you for being here. Secondly, I wish that the newspaper “Pensioner and Society” continues to pursue its line. Or rather, our common line is to revive in our vast country the national pride of the great and indestructible Russian people. It is bitter and painful to watch how poorly educated scum and frankly random people who have received television channels at their disposal are crippling the growing generations in Russia. It’s no secret that a systemic lie is spreading throughout the world from a microscopic state, a global lie is spreading from. Through the mouths of preschool children, television scriptwriters fawning over the West report that the first airplane was built by the Americans, the Wright brothers, and not ours. Mozhaisky! By the way, long before them. And they lied about the light bulb back in Soviet times, that it was invented by the American Edison. As if it didn't exist Yablochkova And Lodygina, and half a century before them! – Petrova. I want to cry when my grandchildren repeat the nonsense that the producer Gurevich– who pays him? – from the so-called “children’s TV channel” “Bibigon”. Or did Gurevich fail in history during his school years? Is there really no one left who can resist these liars?
Tatyana Vasilievna Poltavets, Moscow region.
Why are there cunning historians in the USA?
Before turning to this topic, we note that there are many such letters in our editorial office. More phone calls and emails. However, we, unlike some readers, are categorically against lumping all television journalists with the same brush. In recent years, well-educated and responsible young employees have appeared on domestic television, who did not grow up on the notorious textbooks. Therefore, they understand what happened and sometimes is still happening in our country.
And you and I will begin the fight for restoration of historical justice not from the aircraft manufacturer Mozhaisky, who is hushed up by cunning US historians, but from a light bulb. To do this, let's take a look at the wonderful book by Leonid Borisovich Repin "Discoverers". This is what he writes about the famous Lodygin.
In one old book, published at the beginning of the twentieth century by the publishing house of Mauritius Wolf, in an essay about the great Russian inventor the following is written: “ Lodygin- This surname is not known to many people. Meanwhile, this name is associated with a huge improvement in the field of electric lighting, which laid the foundation for the widespread spread of electric light.”
And indeed, even in the excellent dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron one cannot find a word about him. There is one Lodygin - a famous expert on horse breeding, who developed the genealogy of the trotter breed, and Alexander Nikolaevich, the inventor of the incandescent lamp, far ahead of the well-known one, no! Newspaper people in the States worked hard, advertising worked hard, American resourcefulness did not spare big money for the sake of even greater profit, and all the glory and success went to Edison. At home they kept quiet about Lodygin, although an official patent document confirming Russian priority existed undeniably. We don't value our own. Decades after they pass away, then it happens that we come to our senses. We can lament in pursuit...
After the triumphant flashes "Russian light", which illuminated the streets of a number of European capitals, and after the early death of his Russian inventor, exhausted by the struggle for life Yablochkova it became clear what the next step would be. It became clear that some kind of magic lamp was about to appear, which would transform electric lighting from an amazing, extraordinary phenomenon into a ubiquitous one. Economical, reliable, efficient. But from whom can we expect such an achievement that can be presented in a new light - from the American Edison, who has already stunned his contemporaries with a cascade of wonderful inventions, or from the Russians, who are doing their work, slowly, but very brightly, in their own way and always - unexpectedly?
Let's digress a little. The inventor Lodygin did not come together right away. And he did not immediately take up the problem of electric light. He was the same age as Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkova, and their fates developed in many ways similar. True, Lodygin outlived Yablochkov a lot. But here who is given what...
Lodygin first invented the electric plane!
In September 1870, on the table of the general of infantry and cavalier Milyutina, Minister of War, a most curious document was laid down, which should have played a vital role in the history of technology, but, nevertheless, remained in vain, because the minister showed no interest in him. Retired twenty-three-year-old cadet Alexander Nikolaev, son Lodygin, who served in the Voronezh Cadet Corps as a laboratory assistant in a physics room and an observer at a weather station, as well as a blacksmith’s assistant at the Tula Arms Factory, wrote in the petition: “The experiments carried out by the commission on the use of balloons for military purposes give me the courage to appeal to Your Excellency with a request to draw your attention to the electrolyte I invented - an aeronautical machine that can move freely at different heights and in different directions and, serving as a means of transporting cargo and people, can at the same time satisfy specifically military requirements..."
The minister, as we have already noted, did not pay attention, although, for the sake of curiosity alone, he should have summoned the inventor of the electric plane. The authorities did not want to get acquainted with Lodygin’s theory, not to mention the fact that they did not even think of allocating him the necessary funds to build a test machine. And he, without wasting time, began to invent an electric lamp necessary for night flight. And, judging by the available information, he even managed to conduct some experiments with her.
Without waiting for an answer, Lodygin, with considerable difficulty, scraped together money for a trip to and, without caring at all about his wardrobe, as he was in an army jacket, an untucked shirt, and boots, he set off for a country that is a recognized trendsetter. Not, of course, to dress there in a European style, in accordance with the times. And to implement your technical ideas. Since he couldn’t make a move at home, maybe in France he will be able to achieve at least something... Moreover, the St. Petersburg professor, with whom the young inventor managed to contact, after familiarizing himself with the calculations and drawings, confirmed their soundness in theory.
Lodygin's electric plane amazingly anticipated the idea and main design features helicopter. At that time, projects of controlled balloons were already appearing, but the Lodygin machine was the coming stage of engineering and, essentially, had nothing in common with them. It was conceived by the designer in the form of an elongated cylinder, cone-shaped at the front and spherical at the end at the back. The propeller located in the rear part was supposed to impart movement to the apparatus in the horizontal direction, and the propeller on top, with a vertical axis, depending on the angle at which the blades were rotated, imparted different speeds in both the vertical and horizontal directions. This machine was not destined to be embodied in metal - Russian inventor Lodygin was too ahead of his time…
An electric plane needed a light bulb.
There is one truly amazing page in the story of the electric plane. From the idea of electric lighting during night flight arose a creation that was destined to glorify the name Lodygina. It was the electric lamp, and not the wonderful electric plane, for the sake of which he was ready to endure any hardship, that first brought him success, fame, and then, alas, unjust oblivion.
But how did Alexander Lodygin come to his greatness? How did you manage to achieve what many aspired to? After all, such minds, such talents tried to achieve the same thing! Maybe chance turned the wheel of luck in his direction and helped him achieve success? An instant flash of insight - and everything calmed down, did a solution come?
Anything but chance. There were a great many cases, but such that only hindered him. And there was probably a moment of insight. But we must take into account that not everyone is given the opportunity to evoke within themselves, to experience the illumination of a happily found thought. Solutions.
Already seventy years in the world after the experience of the Russian genius Vasily Vladimirovich Petrov knew: if you pass a sufficiently strong current through two closely placed carbon rods, connect them, and then separate them, a blinding light appears between their ends - an electric arc. Duga Petrova. It will shine until the electrodes burn out. Petrov immediately realized how important a discovery he had made: “...from which the dark peace can be quite illuminated”. And he was right. The main thing is that the arc has found application. But there was no way to obtain a reliable light source from it. Lodygin decided to choose a different path: not an arc lamp will illuminate the world, but.
Through experiments, endless experiments, Alexander Nikolaevich Lodygin advanced towards his historical goal. Not every conductor was suitable as a source of luminescence. Glow is the result of heating, and when heated, transformations of the conductor substance certainly occur - either it burns, or, as the inventor put it, “chemically decomposes.” This means there is only one way out: pass current through a conductor in empty space or in nitrogen. Although, of course, you can try to replace nitrogen with some other gas that does not combine with the conductor substance.
This is the solution: either a neutral gas is required in a glass flask, into which a conductor is inserted through a hermetically sealed end.
Lodygin I made several lamps based on this principle, and each gave an example of different solutions. The biggest difficulty was that there was no reliable pump that could pump out air to the required degree of rarefaction. Besides, Lodygin I was looking for all kinds of sealing methods. In the end, he chose a lamp with an open base, immersed in an oil bath. Insulated wires ran through the bathtub to the carbon rods. There were two of them: as soon as the first one burned out, another one was connected. Two and a half hours of continuous light is a win!
The demonstration of the lamp evoked delight and admiration. People came in droves to see Lodygin's electric light. It was world's first experience electric street. Recognition has arrived. The St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences awards Lodygin the most honorable Lomonosov Prize. In addition to recognition and fame, this is a thousand rubles - a lot of money that can be used for further research. On July 11, 1874, the inventor received a patent for “Method and apparatus for cheap electric lighting.” A certain Florent, the owner of a fashionable lingerie store in St. Petersburg, installs three Lodygin vacuum lamps in his salon. Engineer Struve proposes using Lodygin lamps for underwater lighting during caisson work during the construction of the Alexander Bridge.
In Russia, inventors do not compete, but are friends!
The fame of new, unprecedented Russian lamps spread abroad. IN 1873 year Lodygin receives patents in Austria, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Spain and even in such distant countries as Australia and India. In Germany, patents were issued in his name in a number of individual principalities. Privileges were obtained in the name of the company founded by Lodygin in France. Western newspapers vied with each other to publish reports about the new Russian invention. But neither in Russia itself nor abroad did anyone undertake the serial production of Lodygin lamps. This is a new matter, and who knows where things might turn... And the other “Russian light” – Yablochkov’s candle? Will she prevail? The theaters and shops of Paris and other cities illuminated by it - isn’t this the best, most convincing evidence of its capabilities and bright electric future?
And what about myself Yablochkov? He and Lodygin are friends, and Yablochkov, continuing to work on improving his candle, gives public lectures in support of electric lighting, in support of Lodygin, and even gives him the opportunity to experiment at a factory that produces “electric candles” - Yablochkov’s arc lamps. And, without holding back, he also attacks Lodygin’s precocious followers. Those who were in a hurry to cash in on his invention, including Edison. On the energetic Edison, who rushed to develop the idea of the Russian engineer Alexander Lodygin without any references. What Edison knew about the new Russian miracle is indisputable.
Thomas Edison - a scientific and technological thief?
Only in spring 1879 years, six years after Lodygin, the shameless American makes his first experiment with, and, moreover, an unsuccessful one: Edison's lamp explodes. Only thirteen months later, having spent enormous amounts of money, Edison achieves success. But Petersburg had already been illuminated by Lodygin’s lamp six years earlier!
Meanwhile, already injustice is being done. Russian newspapers, having forgotten about their own admiration for the Lodygin lamp, praise it in every possible way Edison! Lodygin is not indignant, does not speak either publicly or in the press with evidence of his irrefutable priority. What, he doesn't care? Or, perhaps, he is busy with something and does not consider it possible or necessary to pause for word debate?
Well, of course I'm busy. Lodygin moves further: from a lamp with a carbon incandescent filament - to a lamp with a filament of refractory metals. He dreams of giving his lamp an eternity. And for people - unfading light. And he creates such a lamp - with a tungsten filament, and the patent for it is bought by one of the world's largest companies - the American "General Electric". Let's make a note in passing: the now world famous American company buys a patent Russian Lodygina, not American Edison! It’s clear why: with tungsten and molybdenum filaments, these lamps exhibited at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 year, literally eclipsed other achievements of science and technology.
Recognition has come. After death...
Fate abandoned Lodygin. For some time I worked as a senior chemist at a battery factory - I had to leave Russia for a while. Apparently, he was somehow connected with the Narodnaya Volya members and, together with those who managed to escape from arrest, at the end of December 1884, he left for Paris in obvious haste. Then he worked on the construction of the New York subway as an electrical lighting engineer, built an electric car of his own design, made a number of other inventions and, after twenty-three years of absence, again set foot on Russian soil.
With him he brought drawings and calculations of several new inventions, including military ones - special alloys for armor plates and projectiles, an electrochemical method for separating aluminum and lead from ore, a light and strong engine suitable for aircraft, “an aerial torpedo for attacking enemy airplanes, airships and other things (like rockets).” A I didn’t bring any savings. On the contrary, everything that was available was wasted. He, like Edison, did not know how to earn money greedily. What is left for him except to look for service... But he’s already sixty... The Electrical Engineering Institute offered a course on the design of electrochemical plants, and Lodygin happily agreed.
In 1910, the fortieth anniversary of the incandescent lamp was celebrated. Now, after , where the successful Edison was glorified at every step, bitterness burst through Alexander Nikolaevich, resentment for the injustice. Wrote in the newspaper “Novoe Vremya”: “The inventor in Russia is almost a pariah... I know this both from my own personal experience and from the experience of many others...”
The light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison in 1879, right? Many people know about this and teach it this way in school. However, behind this important and much-needed item is more than just the name of its creator, Mr. Edison. The history of the light bulb actually began almost 70 years earlier. In 1806, Humphry Davy, an Englishman, demonstrated a powerful electric lamp to the royal society. The Davy lamp produced illumination by creating blinding electric sparks between two carbon rods. This device, known as an "arc lamp", was impractical for widespread use. The light, as if from a welding torch, was too bright for use in living and working areas. The device also required a huge power source and battery, which Davy's model quickly used up.
As time went on, electric generators were invented that could power electric arcs. This found its application where a bright light source was simply necessary: at lighthouses and in public institutions. Later, arc lamps were used in war, because powerful searchlights could track enemy aircraft. Today you can see similar illuminators near cinemas or at the opening of new stores.
1. Who invented the incandescent light bulb?
19th century inventors wanted to find a way to use a lamp both at home and at work. A completely new method of creating electric light was needed. This method of generating light is known as "incandescence".
Scientists knew that if you took certain materials and passed enough electricity through them, they would heat up. At a certain heating temperature they begin to glow. The problem with this method was that if used for a long time, the material could burst into flames or melt. If the incandescent lamp were made more practical, these two problems would be solved.
The inventors realized that the only way to prevent fire was to prevent them from coming into contact with oxygen. Oxygen is a necessary ingredient in the combustion process. Since oxygen is contained in the atmosphere, the only way to avoid fire was to enclose the burner in a glass container, or "lamp". That is, limit contact with air. In 1841, British inventor Frederick DeMoleynes patented a lamp using this technique in combination with a platinum filament and carbon. American John Starr also received a patent in 1845 for a lamp using a vacuum in combination with a carbon burner. Many others, including the English chemist Joseph Swan, improved and patented variations of vacuum lamps with burners of different materials and different shapes. However, none of them had practical application for everyday use. Swan's lamp, for example, used carbon paper, which crumbled quickly after burning.
2. Who invented the light bulb Edison or Yablochkov?
It was obvious that incandescent lamps would be a huge financial success if improved. Therefore, many inventors continued to work to find a solution. Young and daring inventor Thomas Edison entered the race in 1878 to create a better lamp. Edison was already known in the world for the creation of a telephone transmitter and a phonograph. In October of the same year, having been working on the project for several months, he announced in the newspapers: “I have solved the problem of electric light!” This swift statement was enough to lower the shares of the gas companies whose lamps provided the then lighting.
As it turned out, Edison's statement was premature. He only had an idea how to solve the problems of incandescent electric lamps. Edison thought he would solve the problem by building a temperature-sensitive switch in the lamp that would turn off when the temperature got too high. It was a good idea, but unfortunately it didn't work. To keep the lamp cool enough, the switches operated too quickly. This resulted in constant flickering, which made the lamps unusable (the same principle is now used in Christmas lights).
It soon became clear to everyone who worked in Edison's laboratory that a different approach was needed. Edison decides to hire young physicist Francis Upton from Princeton University to work on the project. Up to this point, Edison's laboratory staff had tried idea after idea. Under Upton's leadership, they also began to pay attention to existing patents and advances to avoid similar mistakes. The team also began conducting basic research about the properties of the materials they were working with.
One of the results of testing the properties of materials was the realization that any thread has high electrical resistance. All materials have some amount of “friction” when electricity passes through it. Materials with high resistance heat up more easily. Edison only had to test high-resistivity materials to find what he was looking for.
The inventor began to think not only about electric light individually, but also about the whole electrical system. How big does a generator need to be to illuminate a nearby area? What voltage is needed to light a house?
By October 1879, Edison's team began to see the first results. On the 22nd, a thin carbon filament burned for 13 hours of the experiment. The longer time was achieved by creating a better vacuum inside the lamp (less oxygen inside the lamp slowed down the combustion process). Carbon-based organic materials were tested and Japanese bamboo was found to be the best. By the end of 1880, charred bamboo fibers had burned for almost 600 hours. Threads have proven to be the best form to increase the electrical resistance of materials.
Charred bamboo had high resistance and fit well into the design of an entire electrical system. In 1882, the Edison Electrical Light Company was founded and had its stations located on Pearl Street, providing light to New York City. In 1883, Macy's store was the first to install new incandescent light bulbs.
3. Edison vs. Swan.
Meanwhile in England, Joseph Swan continued to work on light bulbs after seeing that the new pumps made a better vacuum. Swan created a lamp that was good for demonstration but impractical for actual use. Swan used a thick carbon rod that left soot inside the lamp. Also the low rod resistance meant that the lamp was using too much power. After seeing the success of Edison's lamps, Swan used these advances to create his own lamps. After founding his company in England, Swan was sued by Edison for copyright infringement. Eventually, the two inventors decided to stop arguing and join forces. They founded Edison-Swan United, which became one of the world's largest light bulb manufacturers.
So Edison invented the electric lamp? Not really. The incandescent lamp was invented before him. However, he created the first practical lamp along with an electrical system, which is his great achievement.
Edison's name is also associated with the invention of the telephone transmitter, phonograph, and mimeograph. And his incandescent lamp is still used today. This shows how great the work of Edison and his team was. After all, they brought this invention from the laboratory to the home.
In contact with
It is difficult to imagine how people used to exist without an electric lamp. When the electricity goes out for technical reasons, everyone around freezes in anticipation. There is a feeling that the pulse of the planet is slowing down. Let's try to trace the evolution of this device, which we simply cannot do without now.
A little history
Who invented the first incandescent light bulb? It is very difficult to answer this question specifically and without doubt. All this is because more than one specific person took part in the invention. At different times and at different stages of development of the electric lamp, many people contributed their work and knowledge to make it the way we see and know it now.
At first glance, the lamp may seem simple, but in fact it is quite a complex technology. Even in ancient Egypt and among the people of the Mediterranean oils were used to illuminate homes, which were poured into special vessels with wicks made of cotton threads. On the shores of the Caspian Sea, oil was used instead of oils. Already at that time, people were coming up with various technologies to help them see in the dark.
It is absolutely known that the incandescent lamp was invented in the 19th century. Throughout this time, many people have tried to invent and improve the "electric candle".
Several people took an active part in the invention of the electric light bulb, namely:
- Yablochkov Pavel Nikolaevich;
- Gerard;
- Delarue;
- Heinrich Goebel;
- Lodygin Alexander Nikolaevich;
- Thomas Edison;
- William David Coolidge.
Stages of invention development
The first incandescent lamp, which closely resembled a real one, was invented by Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov. He devoted his entire life to electrical engineering. Inventing innovations in this area and implementing all this in life was his main occupation. The first electric candle is also his invention. Thanks to his candles it became possible to illuminate cities at night. The first electric candles appeared on the streets of St. Petersburg. This candle was inexpensive and lasted for an hour and a half. After burning out, it had to be replaced with a new one. City janitors were responsible for the work. Later, to make their work easier, lanterns with automatic candle changes were invented.
In 1838, the Belgian Gerard managed to invent an electric lamp in which a carbon rod served as the light source and an electric current was supplied to it.
Two years after this, a resident of England with French roots, Delarue, came up with the idea of using a platinum filament for incandescence instead of coal. These two options were considered a huge impetus for the invention of the incandescent electric lamp, but in practice at that time their use was accompanied by many inconveniences. Carbon incandescent lamp was uncomfortable and burned out quickly, and an electric lamp using a platinum thread was distinguished by its high cost. Therefore, many continued to look for other alternative options, invented and implemented more and more new light sources. Everyone wanted the incandescent lamp to burn as long as possible, but many failed in their work on the invention.
In 1854, the German scientist Heinrich Goebel came up with the idea that an incandescent lamp would burn longer in a vacuum space. The burning time of the electric lamp was extended by several hours. Scientists spent several more years trying to ensure a complete vacuum in the lamp.
And only in 1874, our compatriot Alexander Nikolaevich Lodygin managed to invent and create an ideal electric lamp that burned constantly. His brainchild passed all the tests. It was then that the real modern lamp was invented. Lodygin is therefore considered the discoverer, since his light bulb could have been on for almost half an hour. After the air was pumped out of her, she continued to work again. In 1983, for the first time, the streets of St. Petersburg were illuminated with Lodygin light bulbs. Alexander Nikolaevich came from a noble Russian family, despite the poverty of his family. His ancestor was a common ancestor with the Romanovs - Andrei Kobyla.
In America, they learned about these experiments and inventions of Alexander Nikolaevich, thanks to the naval officer N. Khotinsky. The Russian Empire ordered cruisers from America. During one of the naval officer's visits to America, he visited the laboratory of Thomas Edison and handed over to him the inventions of Yablochkov and Lodygin. Thomas Edison began trying to improve the seemingly perfect incandescent lamp. In 1879 he managed to do this. Instead of a coal rod, Thomas I tried using beech thread and achieved the desired result. The light bulb began to burn much longer.
It took many days for Thomas to achieve this result. He had to overcome more than 6,000 attempts with carbon threads. He always achieved what he wanted and found what he was looking for. His light bulbs could burn for a hundred hours. In November, Thomas allegedly patented his invention, which outraged Yablochkov; he made accusations against the American.
This invention was not the only merit of Thomas Edison. He also created a household rotary switch, without which it is difficult to imagine the operation of an electric light bulb, base and socket. His name is associated with the invention of the telephone transmitter, mimeograph and phonograph. He was the first to open large-scale production of light bulbs, which helped many people experience the beauty of electricity. Over the next ten years many scientists tried to improve the light bulb, but Thomas Edison was considered its inventor.
Alexander Nikolaevich Lodygin continued, independently of his colleague and competitor from America, to create and modernize his brainchild. He was looking for a universal and long-lasting filament. He managed to achieve good success using tungsten and molybdenum filaments. It was expensive to produce lamps from these materials at that time, so the invention turned out to be ineffective and costly. In 1910, American explorer William David Coolidge managed to simplify the creation of tungsten filament, this became cheaper and made it possible to mass produce inexpensive incandescent light bulbs.
Let there be light!
The result is a modern incandescent light bulb, which consists of several important elements.
- Flask.
- The cavities of the flask (vacuum or gas-filled).
- Glow body.
- Electrodes (current input).
- Hooks for maintaining the glowing body.
- Lamp legs.
- External link of down conductor, fuse.
- Plinth housing.
- Base (glass) insulator.
- Contact bottom of the base.
Conclusion
Thus, Lenin himself had nothing to do with the creation of “Ilyich’s light bulb”. Several people worked almost simultaneously on this wonderful invention, which finally managed to dispel the darkness. Each of them made a significant contribution to the creation of a real electric light bulb. If you answer the question of who invented the lamp, you should definitely remember all these people. With your painstaking work they helped bring the invention from laboratories to our homes and fundamentally change people's lives for the better. All together and each individually is worthy of our attention, respect and gratitude.