Editing Thomas Edison (section)

===Electric light===
{{Main|Incandescent light bulb}}
[[File:Edison bulb.jpg|thumb|Edison's first successful model of light bulb, used in public demonstration at Menlo Park, December 1879]]
In 1878, Edison began working on a system of electrical illumination, something he hoped could compete with gas and oil-based lighting.<ref>Howard B. Rockman, ''Intellectual Property Law for Engineers and Scientists'', John Wiley & Sons – 2004, p. 131.</ref> He began by tackling the problem of creating a long-lasting incandescent lamp, something that would be needed for indoor use. However, Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb.<ref>Ings, Simon (July 26, 2019), [https://www.newscientist.com/article/2211368-the-real-history-of-electricity-is-more-gripping-than-the-current-war/ "The real history of electricity is more gripping than The Current War"], ''New Scientist''. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718110034/https://www.newscientist.com/article/2211368-the-real-history-of-electricity-is-more-gripping-than-the-current-war/ |date=July 18, 2020 }}.</ref> In 1840, British scientist Warren de la Rue developed an efficient light bulb using a coiled platinum filament but the high cost of platinum kept the bulb from becoming a commercial success.<ref>[https://www.livescience.com/43424-who-invented-the-light-bulb.html#:~:text=Several%20months%20after%20the%201879,the%201880s%20and%20early%201900s. Who Invented the Light Bulb?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615052841/https://www.livescience.com/43424-who-invented-the-light-bulb.html#:~:text=Several%20months%20after%20the%201879,the%201880s%20and%20early%201900s. |date=June 15, 2020 }} LiveScience, August 17, 2017</ref> Many other inventors had also devised incandescent lamps, including [[Alessandro Volta]]'s demonstration of a glowing wire in 1800 and inventions by [[Henry Woodward (inventor)|Henry Woodward]] and [[Mathew Evans]]. Others who developed early and commercially impractical incandescent electric lamps included [[Humphry Davy]], [[James Bowman Lindsay]], [[Moses G. Farmer]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eliotmaine.org/mosespage.htm |title=Moses G. Farmer, Eliot's Inventor |access-date=March 11, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619234400/http://eliotmaine.org/mosespage.htm |archive-date=June 19, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[William E. Sawyer]], [[Joseph Swan]], and [[Heinrich Göbel]].

These early bulbs all had flaws such as an extremely short life and requiring a high [[electric current]] to operate which made them difficult to apply on a large scale commercially.<ref name="Israel"/>{{rp|217–218}} In his first attempts to solve these problems, Edison tried using a filament made of cardboard, carbonized with compressed lampblack. This burnt out too quickly to provide lasting light. He then experimented with different grasses and canes such as hemp, and palmetto, before settling on bamboo as the best filament.<ref>[http://edison.rutgers.edu/lamp.htm Thomas A. Edison Papers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913163223/http://edison.rutgers.edu/lamp.htm |date=September 13, 2017 }}, Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences</ref> Edison continued trying to improve this design and on November 4, 1879, filed for U.S. patent 223,898 (granted on January 27, 1880) for an electric lamp using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected to platina contact wires".<ref name="Patent898">{{US patent|0223898}}</ref>

The patent described several ways of creating the carbon filament including "cotton and linen thread, wood splints, papers coiled in various ways".<ref name="Patent898" /> It was not until several months after the patent was granted that Edison and his team discovered that a [[carbonize]]d [[bamboo]] filament could last over 1,200&nbsp;hours.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Flannery
| first = L. G. (Pat)
| title = John Hunton's Diary, Volume 3
| year = 1960
| pages = 68, 69
}}
</ref>

Attempts to prevent blackening of the bulb due to [[thermionic emission|emission of charged carbon from the hot filament]]<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=J. B. |date=December 1, 1960 |title=Contribution of Thomas A. Edison to Thermionics |url=https://doi.org/10.1119/1.1935997 |journal=American Journal of Physics |volume=28 |issue=9 |pages=763–773 |doi=10.1119/1.1935997 |bibcode=1960AmJPh..28..763J |issn=0002-9505|url-access=subscription }}</ref> culminated in [[Edison effect]] bulbs, which redirected and controlled the mysterious unidirectional current.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Preece |first=William Henry |author-link=William Preece |year=1885 |title=On a peculiar behaviour of glow lamps when raised to high incandescence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xmdDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA219 |url-status=live |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London |volume=38 |issue=235–238 |pages=219–230 |doi=10.1098/rspl.1884.0093 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626213555/http://books.google.com/books?id=xmdDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA219 |archive-date=June 26, 2014 |doi-access=free | issn = 0370-1662 }} Preece coins the term the "Edison effect" on page 229.</ref> Edison's 1883 patent for [[Voltage regulator|voltage-regulating]]<ref>{{cite patent|country=US|number=307031|title=Electrical indicator|pubdate=1884-10-21|fdate=1883-11-15|inventor1-last=Edison|inventor1-first=Thomas A.|inventorlink1=Thomas Edison}}</ref> is notably the first US patent for an [[Electronics|electronic]] device due to its use of an Edison effect bulb as an [[Active electronic component|active component]]. Subsequent scientists studied, applied, and eventually evolved the bulbs into [[vacuum tube]]s, a core component of early [[Analogue electronics|analog]] and [[digital electronics]] of the 20th century.<ref name=":2" /> 

[[File:Light bulb Edison 2.jpg|thumb|U.S. Patent #223898: Electric-Lamp, issued January 27, 1880]]
[[File:SS Columbia Undated Photograph.png|thumb|The [[Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company]]'s new steamship, the [[SS Columbia (1880)|''Columbia'']], was the first commercial application for Edison's incandescent light bulb in 1880.]]
In 1878, Edison formed the [[Edison Electric Light Company]] in New York City with several financiers, including [[J. P. Morgan]], [[Spencer Trask]],<ref>"Handbook of Research on Venture Capital". Colin Mason. Edward Elgar Publishing. January 1, 2012. pg 17</ref> and the members of the [[Vanderbilt family]]. Edison made the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb on December 31, 1879, in Menlo Park. It was during this time that he said: "We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sloan-c.org/conference/proceedings/1996/doc/96_gomory.doc |title=Keynote Address – Second International ALN1 Conference (PDF) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613133233/http://sloan-c.org/conference/proceedings/1996/doc/96_gomory.doc |archive-date=June 13, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Henry Villard]], president of the [[Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company]], attended Edison's 1879 demonstration. Villard was impressed and requested Edison install his electric lighting system aboard Villard's company's new steamer, the [[SS Columbia (1880)|''Columbia'']]. Although hesitant at first, Edison agreed to Villard's request. Most of the work was completed in May 1880, and the ''Columbia'' went to New York City, where Edison and his personnel installed ''Columbia''{{'s}} new lighting system. The ''Columbia'' was Edison's first commercial application for his incandescent light bulb. The Edison equipment was removed from ''Columbia'' in 1895.<ref>Jehl, Francis [https://books.google.com/books?id=OkL1Smk4uiAC&pg=PA563 Menlo Park reminiscences : written in Edison's restored Menlo Park laboratory] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120024434/https://books.google.com/books?id=OkL1Smk4uiAC&pg=PA563&dq=SS+Columbia+(1880) |date=January 20, 2016 }}, Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, Whitefish, Mass, Kessinger Publishing, July 1, 2002, p. 564.</ref><ref name = "Dalton">Dalton, Anthony
[https://books.google.com/books?id=LOQ67VeU3WwC&pg=PA63 A long, dangerous coastline: shipwreck tales from Alaska to California] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120024434/https://books.google.com/books?id=LOQ67VeU3WwC&pg=PA63&dq=SS+Columbia+(1880) |date=January 20, 2016 }}
Heritage House Publishing Company, February 1, 2011 – 128 pp.</ref><ref>Swann, p. 242.</ref><ref name="Revolution">{{cite web | url=http://americanhistory.si.edu/lighting/19thcent/promo19.htm | title=Lighting A Revolution: 19th Century Promotion | publisher=Smithsonian Institution | access-date=July 23, 2013 | archive-date=October 10, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010083904/http://americanhistory.si.edu/lighting/19thcent/promo19.htm | url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1880, [[Lewis Latimer]], a draftsman and an expert witness in patent litigation, began working for the United States Electric Lighting Company run by Edison's rival [[Hiram S. Maxim]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/edis/forkids/the-gifted-men-who-worked-for-edison.htm |title=Lewis Howard Latimer |access-date=June 10, 2007 |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |archive-date=February 7, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207003814/http://www.nps.gov/edis/forkids/the-gifted-men-who-worked-for-edison.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> While working for Maxim, Latimer invented a process for making carbon filaments for light bulbs and helped install broad-scale lighting systems for New York City, Philadelphia, Montreal, and London. Latimer holds the patent for the electric lamp issued in 1881, and a second patent for the "process of manufacturing carbons" (the filament used in incandescent light bulbs), issued in 1882.

On October 8, 1883, the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office|US patent office]] ruled that Edison's patent was based on the work of [[William E. Sawyer]] and was, therefore, invalid. Litigation continued for nearly six years. In 1885, Latimer switched camps and started working with Edison.<ref>Mock, Brentin (February 11, 2015), [https://grist.org/climate-energy/meet-lewis-latimer-the-african-american-who-enlightened-thomas-edison/ Meet Lewis Latimer, the African American who enlightened Thomas Edison], ''Grist''.  {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718215442/https://grist.org/climate-energy/meet-lewis-latimer-the-african-american-who-enlightened-thomas-edison/ |date=July 18, 2020 }}.</ref> On October 6, 1889, a judge ruled that Edison's electric light improvement claim for "a filament of carbon of high resistance" was valid.<ref>{{cite book |title=Thomas Edison: Life of an Electrifying Man |last=Biographiq |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-59986-216-3 |page=15 |publisher=Filiquarian Publishing}}</ref> To avoid a possible court battle with yet another competitor, [[Joseph Swan]], who held an 1880 British patent on a similar incandescent electric lamp,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Swan |first=Kenneth R. |title=Sir Joseph Swan and the Invention of the Incandescent Electric Lamp |publisher=Longmans, Green and Co., London |year=1946 |pages=21–25}}</ref> he and Swan formed a joint company called [[Ediswan]] to manufacture and market the invention in Britain.

The incandescent light bulb patented by Edison also began to gain widespread popularity in Europe as well. [[Mahen Theatre]] in [[Brno]] (in what is now the Czech Republic), opened in 1882, and was the first public building in the world to use Edison's electric lamps. [[Francis Jehl]], Edison's assistant in the invention of the lamp, supervised the installation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ndbrno.cz/en/about-us/theatre-buildings/mahen-theatre/history-of-mahen-theatre/history-mt/ |title=About the Memory of a Theatre |access-date=December 30, 2007 |work=National Theatre Brno |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119092027/http://www.ndbrno.cz/en/about-us/theatre-buildings/mahen-theatre/history-of-mahen-theatre/history-mt/ |archive-date=January 19, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In September 2010, a sculpture of three giant light bulbs was erected in Brno, in front of the theater.<ref>{{cite web |author=Michal Kašpárek |url=http://brnonow.com/2010/09/light-bulbs-edison/ |title=Sculpture of three giant light bulbs: in memory of Thomas Alva Edison |publisher=Brnonow.com |date=September 8, 2010 |access-date=December 31, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026200319/http://brnonow.com/2010/09/light-bulbs-edison/ |archive-date=October 26, 2013 }}</ref> 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 news|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=November 18, 2015|access-date=December 9, 2021|archive-date=December 9, 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>

In 1901, Edison attended the [[Pan-American Exposition]] in [[Buffalo, New York]]. His company, the [[Edison Manufacturing Company]], was given the task of installing the electric lights on the various buildings and structures that were built for the exposition. At night Edison made a panorama photograph of the illuminated buildings.<ref>{{cite web |first= |last= |title=Panorama of Esplanade by night |publisher=Library of Congress |year=1901 |accessdate=November 24, 2023 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/00694344/ |ref=panorama}}</ref>