History of glass for the incandescent electric lamp Part 1. From the beginnings to the first commercially available lamp

Abstract

Although glass has no part in the process of the transformation of energy from electric power to visible light, it nevertheless is one of the essential components of the incandescent lamp. Its function is to shield the delicate glowing body (illuminant) especially from the destructive oxygen of the surrounding air. During the years of the development of the incandescent electric lamp, in the first 80 years of the 19th century, any of the commercially available glasses could be used for its manufacture. This changed when the lamp was perfected for general use and industrial production. The following contribution attempts to trace the development and to investigate the technical literature. Taking the point of view of its protagonists, the discourse intends to reflect the state of knowledge of the time and its technical feasibilities. The first part concerns the time from the discovery of the basic principles of light, around 1800, until the start of industrial production of lamps around 1880.