TO LEARN MORE

RELATED INFORMATION:
Thomas Alva Edison Biography    from The Great Idea Finder
Evolution of Electricity    from The Great Idea Finder
History of Household Items    from The Great Idea Finder
Energy History    from The Great Idea Finder

ON THE BOOKSHELF:
100 Inventions That Shaped World History
by Bill Yenne, Morton, Dr. Grosser (Editor) / Paperback - 112 pages (1983) / Bluewood Books 
This book contains inventions from all around the world from microchips to fire. This is a really good book if you are going to do research on inventions.
Panati’s Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things
by Charles Panati / Paperback - 480 pages Reissue edition (September 1989) / HarperCollins
Discover the fascinating stories behind the origins of over 500 everyday items, expressions and customs.
Brandy, Balloons, & Lamps: Ami Argand, 1750-1803 (Limited availability.)
by John J. Wolfe / Hardcover - 240 pages (June 1999) / Southern Illinois Univ Pr (Txt);
Little has been written about Ami Argand and the development of the Argand lamp, a two-air draft burner for oil lamps, especially as his discovery is generally recognized as the first scientific advancement in lighting.
The Lightbulb  (Limited availability.)
by Joseph Wallace / School & Library Binding - 80 pages (September 1999) / Atheneum
When Thomas Alva Edison was a boy, he couldn't just flick a switch to turn on the light if he wanted to finish reading a book after the sun had set. Then, in 1879, he invented the ightbulb, and houses, shops, factories, schools, streets, ballparks -- every place you could think of, indoors and out -- could at last be easily illuminated after dark.

ON THE SCREEN:
Thomas Edison
DVD / 1 Volume Set / 50 Minutes / Bipgraphy Channel / Less than $25.00 / Also VHS
Life in the modern world would be unthinkable without his inventions. More than any other individual, he paved the way for the future. Thomas Alva Edison has rightly earned a place among the most important men in history.

ON THE WEB:
My Uncle Joseph Swan
About 1918 two nieces of Sir Joseph Wilson Swan (1828-1914) wrote a biography of their father, John Cameron Swan and his older brother of Joseph Wilson Swan. A short chapter from that book gives their story about their world-famous uncle.
(URL: home.frognet.net/~ejcov/jwswan.html)
Joseph Swan Biography
Although the English physicist and chemist Joseph Swan is most remembered for making an early electric light bulb, he also invented a dry photographic process. This invention lead to a huge improvement in photography and progress toward the development of modern photographic film.
(URL: www.timmonet.co.uk/html/body_joseph_swan.htm)
Incandescent Lamp Patents
Presented by Kilokat's antique light bulb site. A bulb collectors dream come true.
(URL: bulbcollector.com/gateway/Patent_Archive/Incandescent_Lamp_Patents)
Lighting a Revolution
This web site accompanies an exhibition at the National Museum of American History exploring the process of invention. The story is told in two parallel sections comparing Thomas Edison's light bulb invention with several electric lighting inventions of a century later.
(URL: americanhistory.si.edu/lighting/index.htm)
Electric Museum
Charles F. Brush invented a new type of simple, reliable, self-regulating arc lamp, as well as a new dynamo designed to power it. Site maintained by Charles Brush the great grandson of the founder of Brush Electric Company.
(URL: www.electricmuseum.com)
Charles Brush
Charles F. Brush designed and developed an electric arc lighting system that was adopted throughout the United States and abroad during the 1880's. His inventive genius ranked with an elite group of electric pioneers including Thomas A. Edison.
(URL: www.lafavre.us/brush/brushbio.htm)
Guinness Book of World Records
The oldest known working lightbulb was first installed at the fire department hose cart house in 1901. Then moved to fire station at First and McLeod, then to its present site in 1976 at the fire station, 4550 East Ave., Livermore, California
(URL: www.centennialbulb.org/facts.htm)
Early Incandescent Lamps
The history of the electric incandescent lamp can be considered to have begun with the invention of the voltaic pile by Alessandro Volta in 1800. Although the earlier history needs to be revealed in detail, this site concentrates mainly on lamp development between the years 1880-1925.
(URL: home.frognet.net/~ejcov/index40.html)
Picture of Early Edison-Swan light bulb and holder 1880
Early Technology was founded in 1972 and trades from Monkton House, Old Craighall, Edinburgh, Scotland UK. We aim to help collectors and institutions build collections in all fields of technology - and a few outside,
(URL: www.earlytech.com/common/show_image.phtml?Id=1399441776)

WORDS OF WISDOM:
"There are no inventions without a pedigree, meaning that nothing is developed in complete isolation, an inventor always draws on the work of others that have gone before." - Joseph Swan

DID YOU KNOW?:

• General Electric, GE is the only company listed in the Dow Jones Industrial Index today that was also included in the original index in 1896.