Why Edison Triumphed: Joseph Swan worked on the incandescent light idea since 1850. Swan did not succeed because he used only a partial vacuum in his bulb. He also used a carbonized paper filament. Edison figured out how to create a pure vacuum in his bulbs. He did this by heating up the bulb at the same time that he pumped out the air. He used a Sprengle pump.
On Mon, Jun 22, 2015 at 4:17 PM, Jed Rothwell <jedrothw...@gmail.com> wrote: > Axil Axil <janap...@gmail.com> wrote: > > >> The Cat and mouse control approach is as world changing as Edison’s use >> of a vacuum in the light bulb. >> > > I am sorry to be a pedant, but Edison did not invent that. He invented the > high resistance filament allowing bulbs to be used in parallel rather than > in series. The vacuum technique was invented 20 years before he began > working on incandescent lights. > > He greatly improved the quality of the vacuum, but I recall that was > mainly by using vacuum pumps invented by other people. He got one of the > best pumps in the world on loan from U. Connecticut and apparently never > returned it. > > He invented a whole slew of other things relating to bulbs, such as the > method of screwing them in, fabrication techniques, improved generators, > and power metering. > > - Jed > >
