| Lamps have been used to spread light since old | | | | Around 1859, the first drilling process was initiated |
| ages, even before electricity was invented, and | | | | to find petroleum and with the advent of |
| lighting was given a new meaning. The use of | | | | kerosene, which is a derivative of petroleum, lamp |
| lamps can be broadly classified into two eras: The | | | | became more popular and usage increased. |
| pre-electrical era and the post electrical era. | | | | Kerosene enabled lighting was first introduced in |
| The Pre-electrical Era | | | | Germany in 1853. |
| The invention and first usage of lamp can be | | | | During the same time two other products were |
| dated back to 70,000 BC. At that time, there | | | | used for lamp lighting purposes and they were |
| was no metal or bronze to make lamps instead | | | | natural gas and coal. The first use of coal gas |
| the then civilization used hollow rocks and shells. | | | | lamps was in 1784. |
| These hollow rocks were filled with moss and | | | | Electrical Lighting Lamps: |
| other natural substances and then soaked in | | | | Lamps have actually come a long way from |
| animal fat. Animal fat acted as oil and this is how | | | | usage of coal gas to electricity. In 1801, Sir |
| the first lamps were ignited. | | | | Humphrey Davy of England invented the electric |
| With the advent of pottery, and the bronze and | | | | carbon arc lamp, which was the first of its kind. |
| copper age, humans started to make lamps that | | | | The working principle for this lamp was simple and |
| imitated other natural shapes. Wicks came into | | | | included hooking of two carbon rods to an |
| existence much later and were used for | | | | electrical source. |
| controlling the flame or the rate of burning. In the | | | | The carbon rods were kept at a distance from |
| 7th century BC, Greeks started using terra cotta | | | | each other so that electrical current could flow |
| lamps, which replaced the handheld torches. The | | | | through the arc and thus vaporize carbon to |
| word lamp has been derived from the Greek | | | | create white lighting. Around 1857, A.E. Becquerel |
| word lampas, which means torch. | | | | of France came out with the theory of |
| Lamps and the Design Change: | | | | fluorescent lighting in lamps. In the 1870s, the |
| There was a major change in the design of lamps | | | | unthinkable happened with Thomas Edison |
| in the 18th century, when the central burner was | | | | inventing the first electric incandescent lamp. Since |
| invented. With the invention of the burner, a | | | | then incandescent lamps were used for lighting |
| separate fuel source was made from metal. | | | | purposes in homes till about the early 20th |
| Another small change made was the addition of a | | | | century. |
| metal tube that could be adjusted to control the | | | | In 1901, Peter Cooper Hewitt patented his new |
| intensity of the flame or light. | | | | invention, the mercury vapor lamp. This was |
| This was an important discovery in terms of | | | | another type of arc lamp that enhanced lighting |
| lighting because with adjustment, humans were | | | | using mercury vapors, which were enclosed in a |
| able to diminish the lighting or make it bright as | | | | glass bulb. The Mercury vapor lamps set the |
| required. Another aspect was added to the new | | | | prototype for fluorescent lighting lamps. |
| lamp, which was in the form of small glass | | | | The Neon lamp was invented by Georges Claude |
| chimneys. The role of the glass chimney was to | | | | of France in 1911 followed by Irving Langmuir, an |
| protect the flame as well as control the air flow. | | | | American who invented the electric gas-filled |
| Swiss chemist Ami Argand used the hollow | | | | incandescent lamp in 1915. In 1927, Hans Spanner, |
| circular wick in an oil lamp for the very first time | | | | Friedrich Meyer, and Edmund Germer patented |
| in 1783. | | | | the first fluorescent lamp. The fluorescent lamps |
| Fuels for Lighting | | | | provided better lighting as compared to the |
| Different kinds of fuels have been used for | | | | mercury vapor lamps because they were coated |
| lighting a lamp between 70,000 BC and now. Most | | | | from inside with beryllium. |
| of the early forms of fuel were beeswax, olive | | | | Since then we have been using different form of |
| oil, animal fat, fish oil, sesame oil, whale oil, nut oil | | | | lighting in lamps, which includes Mercury vapors, |
| etc. These were also among the most commonly | | | | incandescent lamps and even today, in some |
| used forms of fuel for lighting a lamp till the late | | | | corners of the earth people still use the old wick |
| 18th century. | | | | and oil lamp for lighting their homes. |