Edison did more than invent a practical incandescent electric lamp at Menlo Park; he introduced an entire system of electric lighting. From his first central stations in London and New York’s Pearl Street to his display at the 1889 Paris Exposition, Edison’s companies pioneered the electric utility industry. Thanks to Rutgers Public History intern Ammi Gonzales for her help editing links and PDF files for this essay.
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Conceiving the System
Edison briefly experimented with electric lighting in 1877 but he did not begin to focus his attention on the subject until George Barker, physics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, invited him to see the arc light system developed by William Wallace and Moses Farmer at Wallace’s shop in... -
Supporting the Work
Edison’s public pronouncements about his intention to develop an electric lighting system generated considerable interest on the part of several figures connected with Western Union Telegraph who already held him in high regard as an inventor. Edison was represented in his negotiations with these... -
The Platinum-Filament Lamp
Lowrey’s reassurance came amidst reports that Edison had been having difficulties with his experiments using platinum as a filament. Like previous experimenters, Edison had focused his initial lamp experiments on two materials—carbon and platinum. Charred paper or cardboard was a commonly used and... -
Designing the Generator
As Edison and his staff experimented furiously to develop a lamp that would be commercially viable, they also worked on other parts of the electrical system, most notably the generator. Edison had initially thought that he could use the Wallace arc-light dynamo for his incandescent lighting... -
The Carbon-Filament Lamp
Even though Edison's research on metals and the development of high-vacuum pumps had increased the prospects for the platinum lamp, the use of this rare metal presented Edison with what appeared to be an intractable problem. Platinum’s high price would make his system uneconomical. Edison... -
Demonstrating the New Light
Edison quickly moved forward with his plans to publicly exhibit the light and gave John Kruesi the task of overseeing the preparations, which he detailed in an order book. Edison’s staff wired the laboratory complex, houses, and other buildings at Menlo Park and set up a line of poles with lamps... -
From Research to Development
From the very beginning of his research Edison had periodically considered other elements of his system, such as meters and underground conductors, but the during the research phase he and his staff had focused on the lamp and generator. With the shift to commercial development, they now paid greater...
