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

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.

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

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.

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

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.