Edison's first practical electrical lighting system was
established in 1882, on Pearl Street in New York City. It was a
central system, designed to provide light to everyone in the area
using six "jumbo" generators. On September 4, 1882, the first day
of operations at the Pearl Street station, the plant boasted ten
1/2 miles of mains and four 1/2 miles of feeder lines; by the end
of the year it served an area of one square mile. By October, the
station served over 1,200 lamps.
Analysis
Edison's work on the light bulb is a good example of how
inventors at the time built off of each other's accomplishments
and added their own touches to make a product unique. The light
bulb was the culmination of nearly a century's worth of work and
research on electrical lighting systems, most of it done by other
inventors. Edison's contribution to this field was to synthesize
all of the past work done on electrical lighting and to solve the
lingering problems that had prevented these other inventors from
creating a practical system.
The key to Edison's success was his new filament and high-resistance
lamp technology. The high-resistance lamps were the result of Edison's
attention to Joseph Swan, who had pioneered a low-resistance lamp.
Edison's lamp was more practical, because it used thinner, more
economical conductors. His discovery of a carbon filament was based
upon his work on the carbon telephone transmitter. Here, once again,
is a case of Edison using experiments that were not initially successful
to spark new inventions.
Edison's savvy business techniques after his invention
are also key to understanding why his light bulb became such a
phenomenon. His understanding of the marketplace led him to immediately plan
for electrical lighting on a large scale; such quick thinking spared
him the skepticism of the public about the practicality of an electrical
lamp. He also invented his system in such a way as to give the
customer choice between the gas lighting system and the electrical
system, thereby avoiding the wrath of the gas lighting industry. Their
protests would have certainly slowed down his underground wiring
plans and possibly kept the Pearl Street station from becoming
a reality.
Edison showed foresight not just in planning his Pearl
Street station, but also in locating it near an important area
in Lower Manhattan: the New York Stock exchange and banking districts.
By servicing these areas first, Edison got the interest of the
financial world in his electrical system. These interests were
able to fund his Menlo Park facility further, allowing him to take
on new experiments and expand the electrical lighting system.
Ad-free experience
Study Guides for 1,000+ titles
Full Text content for 250+ titles
No Fear Translations of Shakespeare’s plays (along with audio!) and other classic works
Flashcards
Mastery Quizzes
Infographics
Graphic Novels
AP® Practice & Lessons
Note-taking
Bookmarking
Dashboard
