The late nineteenth century was a period of explosive technological creativity, but more than any other invention, Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb marked the arrival of modernity, transforming its inventor into a mythic figure and avatar of an era. In The Age of Edison, award-winning author and historian Ernest Freeberg weaves a narrative that reaches from Coney Island and Broadway to the tiniest towns of rural America, tracing the progress of electric light through the reactions of everyone who saw it and capturing the wonder Edison’s invention inspired. It is a quintessentially American story of ingenuity, ambition, and possibility in which the greater forces of progress and change are made by one of our most humble and ubiquitous objects.
Author Introduction
Ernest Freeberg grew up in New England, attended Middlebury College, and worked as a reporter for Maine Public Radio. Now a Distinguished Professor of Humanities at the University of Tennessee, he has published two award-winning books. The Education of Laura Bridgman won the Dunning Prize from the American Historical Association, a biennial prize for the best first book in any field of American history. His more recent Democracy's Prisoner was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist in biography, and won both the David Langum Award for Legal History and the Eli Oboler Award from the American Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Roundtable. His 2013 book, Age of Edison: Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America, examines the social and cultural impact of electric light on American society in that invention's early decades.
Book Highlights
Freeberg's book follows Edison's development of the first commercially viable incandescent light. He begins the development in his lab/workshop in Menlo Park, New Jersey in 1877. Scientists demonstrated incandescent light in the early 1800's. The challenge for inventors was how to advance the technology so that it would be readily available to the public at large. Freeberg writes:
"Thanks to the successes and failures of these early efforts, the nature of the problem was well understood by the time Edison took up the challenge in 1877. He joined a crowded field that was already looking for a steady and inexpensive power supply, a method for 'subdividing' that current so that multiple lamps could be turned on and off at will, and a filament sealed in glass, capable of reaching terrific temperatures, glowing without burning up." (pg. 29)After the invention of the commercially viable incandescent light bulb, the author traces the development of electrical lighting systems and electrically powered devices throughout North America and Europe. He first touches on the civic applications such as in public streets and parks. The public welcomed the artificial light source because it was brighter than gas and therefore provided safer public areas from street crimes.
As electric lights became more common, the gas companies resisted fiercely. They tried to discredit electric light because is was dangerous and in some cases fatal. Early attempts at electrification were very primitive. Wires in many cases were not insulated. Utility poles were a jumbled mess of wires that could be easily knocked over. In short a case could be made for electricity as a public nuisance.
Electricity expanded into the work place. A well-lighted work place was safer, especially in factories that were open during hours of darkness. Lights were also installed in harbors on towers or clock towers. The demand for electricity grew to the point that electric power stations using large dynamos were constructed.
From commercial applications, electric light expanded into leisure activities and spaces. Photographers benefited from brighter indoor lighting. World electrical expositions had marvelous displays of light towers or colored light fountains. Parks were lighted such as Coney Island in New Jersey. Outdoor plazas such as the Bowery in New York attracted more visitors at night.
The U.S. Patent Office was kept busy with all the new electric inventions that began to be produced. Many inventors saw the commercial potential of electricity and began to invent many electric powered devices. The author writes:
"Every few months reports circulated across the country predicting that Americans would soon enjoy something new under the sun, the brainchild of a new Edison who was on the verge of transforming modern life while turning some lucky inventors into tycoons." (pg. 156)Some of the interesting technologies that developed included underwater photography, medical devices with small lights (the laryngoscope) and electric light baths.
Professional societies developed in time such as NELA (National Electric Lighting Association). One of their biggest issues was safety. A famous incident involving a telegraph lineman, John Feeks, incited a national uproar due to his accidental death when he touched a dead telegraph wire that had fallen across a live electrical wire. In some cases electrical service was stopped until the problem could be properly addressed. Eventually the European model was followed by placing the electrical lines underground.
Cities began to adopt lighting in their public buildings and eventually in personal residences. Gas powered light was being eclipsed by the more powerful electric light. Lights and lighting systems became more and more sophisticated. New types of light bulbs were developed. Bulbs became cheaper and over time electricity was able to compete with gas economically. In the 1930's and 40's even rural towns adopted electric lights. Incentives were provided so that the entire nation could benefit from these technological advances.
In 1929, the public celebrated the electric light's golden jubilee. Edison was broadcast over the radio, re-creating his original Menlo Park public exhibition in 1879. The celebration included President Hoover, Henry Ford, Edsel Ford, Francis Jehl, princes, prime ministers, business leaders and scientific dignitaries. Even the postal service produced a stamp in honor of the event.
Recommendation
This was a really fun book to read. It provided an entertaining and educational historical survey of the origins of the incandescent light and the larger electrical industry. It certainly helps us to appreciate something we all take for granted. Yet for those early pioneers, the wonder of it all was almost indescribable.
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