6 Chapter 5 Turning on the Light

Chapter 5 Turning on the Light It was the summer of 1878. Tom had been working hard for a long time. He was thinking about taking a vacation. Then a friend invited him to join a group of scientists. They were traveling by train to Wyoming to see an eclipse of the sun. Tom decided to go. He had been working on a machine he called a tasimeter for measuring temperature. He saw the trip as a chance to try it out. Tom enjoyed talking to other scientists. After the eclipse, he and his friend traveled on together by train. It is said that Tom persuaded the train engineer to let him ride on the cowcatcher—the metal grate on the front of the train. This way Tom had the best view of the spectacular scenery until

第五章开灯那是1878年夏天。 汤姆努力工作了很长一段时间。 他在考虑去度个假。 后来一个朋友邀请他加入一个科学家小组。 他们乘火车去怀俄明州看日食。 汤姆决定去。他一直在研究一种他称之为温度计的测量温度的机器。 他认为这次旅行是一次尝试的机会。 汤姆喜欢和其他科学家交谈。 日食之后，他和他的朋友一起乘火车旅行。 据说汤姆说服火车司机让他坐上了捕牛器——火车前部的金属栅栏。 这样汤姆就能最好地看到壮观的景色，直到

the train came to a tunnel and he had to get back inside the car. At this point in his life, Tom wasn't sure what he would work on next. On this trip out west, he stood and looked at the Platte River rushing by.

火车来到了一个隧道，他不得不回到车里。 在他生命的这个阶段，汤姆不确定他下一步要做什么。 在这次西行中，他站在那里看着普拉特河奔流而过。

He wondered out loud to his friend why the power of the river's flow couldn't be used to provide electricity to miners nearby. They were drilling for ore by hand, and it was obviously slow, hard work. Tom's friend told him about a man he knew in Connecticut who had found an interesting way to use the power of electricity. He could send enough electricity to light up not just one arc light, but eight. An arc light makes light when an electric current jumps across the space between two

他大声地问他的朋友，为什么不能利用河水的力量为附近的矿工供电。 他们用手工钻探矿石，这显然是一项缓慢而艰苦的工作。 汤姆的朋友告诉他，他在康涅狄格州认识的一个人发现了一种利用电力的有趣方法。 他可以发出足够的电来点亮不止一个弧光灯，而是八个。 当电流跃过两者之间的空间时，弧光灯就会发光

carbon rods. The problem is that the light is harsh and bright. Arc lights also threw off sparks and could start a fire indoors. They were better suited for using outdoors. Up to now, indoor lighting came from candles, oil lamps, or gas lamps. None of them gave off enough light to do much after dark. Gaslight had been around since the early 1800s. But it was expensive. Gas lamps made walls black and dirty. Sometimes its smell caused headaches. Gas could be dangerous, too, if it leaked or exploded. Fires might start. Still, gaslight was popular because it was the best light available.

碳棒。问题是光线刺眼而明亮。 弧光灯也会产生火花，可能在室内引发火灾。 它们更适合在户外使用。 到目前为止，室内照明来自蜡烛、油灯或煤气灯。 天黑后，它们都没有发出足够的光来做什么事。 煤气灯早在19世纪初就出现了。 但是很贵。煤气灯把墙壁弄得又黑又脏。 有时它的气味会引起头痛。 如果天然气泄漏或爆炸，也可能是危险的。 火灾可能会发生。尽管如此，煤气灯还是很受欢迎，因为它是最好的光线。

GASLIGHT IN 1816, COAL GAS LAMPS LIT UP A STREET IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. IT WAS THE FIRST AMERICAN STREET TO HAVE GASLIGHTS. LATER, LAMPS WERE USED INDOORS. NATURAL GAS COMES RIGHT OUT OF THE GROUND. A WELL TWENTY-SEVEN FEET DEEP WAS DRILLED IN FREDONIA, NEW YORK, IN 1820. GENERAL LAFAYETTE, A HERO OF THE

1816年，煤气灯照亮了马里兰州巴尔的摩的一条街道。 这是美国第一条安装煤气灯的街道。 后来，灯在室内使用。 天然气直接从地下开采出来。 1820年，在纽约的弗里多尼亚钻了一口27英尺深的井。 拉法耶特将军，一个英雄

AMERICAN REVOLUTION, VISITED AND WAS SERVED A DINNER COOKED ON A GAS STOVE IN A ROOM LIT BY GASLIGHT. IT WAS A MARVEL IN ITS DAY! It could be found in homes, offices, factories, and outdoors in larger towns and cities around the country. Tom was eager to see how the man in Connecticut was using electricity to light up his eight arc lights. He was surprised and interested to find out that the man was not using batteries, but a small generator made of a magnet and coils of wire. Tom was very impressed with the eight arc lights. But he went home knowing that if he was to succeed with electric light he had to develop a simple lightbulb, which gives off a bright, soft glow from a heated filament, or material, inside the bulb. This was known as incandescent lighting.

美国独立战争期间，他参观了一个由煤气灯照亮的房间，并享用了一顿在煤气炉上烹制的晚餐。 这在当时是一个奇迹!它可以在家庭、办公室、工厂和全国较大城镇的户外找到。 汤姆很想看看康涅狄格的那个人是如何用电点亮他的八盏弧光灯的。 他惊讶而又感兴趣地发现，这个人用的不是电池，而是一个由磁铁和线圈组成的小发电机。 汤姆对那八个弧光灯印象深刻。 但他回家后知道，如果他要成功研制电灯，他必须研制出一种简单的灯泡，这种灯泡通过加热灯丝或灯泡内部的材料发出明亮柔和的光。 这就是众所周知的白炽灯。