Thomas Edison

Edison's Inadvertant Folly

Nancy Liu-Sullivan, PhD — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 15:35:00 +0000

It all started in Bavaria, southern Germany, 1895. Dr. Roentgen, a physicist, noticed a spooky greenish ray seeping through the completely sealed test tube and projected onto the screen wall. What on earth! When he placed an object between the energy source and the wall, the ray powerfully shined through the object, casting a vivid silhouette on the wall. Magical! Excited but holding a certain degree of uncertainty as to the nature of the energy, Dr. Roentgen coined the electromagnetic wave “X” ray.

“Westinghousing”: The kind of experiments that would never take place today (thank goodness!)

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Thu, 06 Dec 2018 17:12:26 +0000

In the late 1880s the two giants in the burgeoning field of electricity, namely Thomas Edison and Georges Westinghouse, squared off in what has been called The Battle of The Currents. Edison was the champion of transmitting electricity by direct current, whereas Westinghouse thought that alternating current was a far more efficient way of delivering electricity since it could be transformed to higher voltages, which meant a lower loss of transmission over distances.

No Need to be In the Dark About the Light Bulb

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 20:06:07 +0000

Way back in 1802, Humphrey Davy, one of the most brilliant chemists of all time, became interested in the novel phenomenon of electricity. By this time he had already published a treatise on the pain killing properties of laughing gas and had suggested it's use in surgical operations. As a result of his chemical prowess he was invited to further his career at the Royal Institution in London, which had been established with the object of "combining useful knowledge with the amusement and instruction of the higher ranks."