| Sir Joseph Wilson Swan | |
 Photograph of Swan, c. 1900
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| Born | October 31, 1828 Bishopwearmouth, England |
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| Died | May 27, 1914 (aged 85) Warlingham, England |
| Occupation | Inventor, pharmacist |
Sir Joseph Wilson Swan (October 31, 1828 – May 27, 1914) was an English physicist and chemist, most famous for the invention of the incandescent light bulb. Events 445 BC – Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 91 NLTse The year 1828 ( MDCCCXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Bishopwearmouth is an area in Sunderland, North East England. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Events 927 - Simeon the Great, Tsar of Bulgaria, dies 1120 - Richard III of Capua is anointed Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Warlingham is a large Village on the south-eastern boundary of London, England, just across the border in Tandridge district east Surrey England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Events 445 BC – Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 91 NLTse The year 1828 ( MDCCCXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Events 927 - Simeon the Great, Tsar of Bulgaria, dies 1120 - Richard III of Capua is anointed Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A physicist is a Scientist who studies or practices Physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning A chemist is a Scientist trained in the Science of Chemistry. The incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe is a source of electric Light that works by Incandescence, (a general
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Early life
Swan was born in 1828 at Pallion Hall in Bishopwearmouth (now Sunderland), and he served an apprenticeship with a pharmacist there. Pallion is a Suburb, Parish and electoral ward in Sunderland. Bishopwearmouth is an area in Sunderland, North East England. Sunderland (, or /ˈsʌn(dlən/ is a City in Tyne and Wear, England. Pharmacists are Health professionals who practice the art and science of Pharmacy. He later became a partner in Mawson's, a firm of manufacturing chemists in Newcastle upon Tyne. Newcastle upon Tyne ( (often shortened to Newcastle) is a city and Metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, England This company existed as Mawson, Swan and Morgan until 1973, formerly located on Grey Street in Newcastle-upon-Tyne near Grey's Monument. Grey's Monument is a Grade I listed monument to Charles Grey 2nd Earl Grey built in 1838 in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The premises are now owned by Waterstones and can be identified by a line of Victorian-style electric street lamps in front of the store on Grey Street. Waterstone's is a United Kingdom –based chain of bookshops.
Electric light
In 1850 he began working on a light bulb using carbonised paper filaments in an evacuated glass bulb. For the game see 1850 (board game. 1850 ( MDCCCL) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link By 1860 he was able to demonstrate a working device, and obtained a UK patent covering a partial vacuum, carbon filament incandescent lamp. Year 1860 ( MDCCLX) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year starting This vacuum means "absence of matter" or "an empty area or space" for the cleaning appliance see Vacuum cleaner. However, the lack of a good vacuum and an adequate electric source resulted in an inefficient bulb with a small, uncontinued lifetime.
Fifteen years later, in 1875, Swan returned to consider the problem of the light bulb with the aid of a better vacuum and a carbonised thread as a filament. The most significant feature of Swan's improved lamp was that there was little residual oxygen in the vacuum tube to ignite the filament, thus allowing the filament to glow almost white-hot without catching fire. Oxygen (from the Greek roots ὀξύς (oxys (acid literally "sharp" from the taste of acids and -γενής (-genēs (producer literally begetteris the This vacuum means "absence of matter" or "an empty area or space" for the cleaning appliance see Vacuum cleaner. However, his filament had low resistance, thus needing heavy copper wires to supply it. [1]
Edison collaboration
Swan received a British patent for his device in 1878, about a year before Thomas Edison. Swan had reported success to the Newcastle Chemical Society and at a lecture in Newcastle upon Tyne in February 1879 he demonstrated a working lamp. Newcastle upon Tyne ( (often shortened to Newcastle) is a city and Metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, England Year 1879 ( MDCCCLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Starting that year he began installing light bulbs in homes and landmarks in England. His house Underhill on Kells Lane in Low Fell, Gateshead was the first in the world to have working light bulbs installed. Low Fell is former village which is now a suburb of Gateshead, England. Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England. It lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1881 he had started his own company, The Swan Electric Light Company, and started commercial production. Year 1881 ( MDCCCLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common
In America Edison had been working on copies of the original Swan patent, trying to make them more efficient. Though Swan had beaten him to this goal, Edison obtained patents in America for a fairly direct copy of the Swan light, and started an advertising campaign which claimed that he was the real inventor. Swan, who was less interested in making money from the invention, agreed that Edison could sell the lights in America while he retained the rights in Britain.
Ediswan
In 1883 the Edison & Swan United Electric Light Company was established. Known commonly as "Ediswan" the company sold lamps made with a cellulose filament that Swan had invented in 1881. Variations of the cellulose filament became an industry standard, except with the Edison Company. Cellulose is an Organic compound with the formula, a Polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β(1→4 Edison continued using bamboo filaments until the 1892 merger that created General Electric, and that company then shifted to cellulose. Bamboo is a group of Woody perennial Evergreen Plants in the True grass family Poaceae, subfamily
In 1886[2] Ediswan moved production to a former jute mill at Ponders End, north London. Year 1886 ( MDCCCLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Jute is a long soft shiny Vegetable fiber that can be spun into coarse strong threads Ponders End is a place in the London Borough of Enfield in the north of London In 1916 Ediswan set up Britain's first radio thermionic valve factory at Ponders End. This article is about the electronic device not an evacuated pipe used for experiments in Free-fall. This area, with nearby Brimsdown subsequently developed as a centre for the manufacture of valves, cathode ray tubes etc and nearby parts of Enfield became an important centre of the electronics industry for much of the 20th century. Brimsdown Industrial Estate is located to the east of the residential part of Brimsdown. The cathode ray tube (CRT is a Vacuum tube containing an Electron gun (a source of electrons and a Fluorescent screen with internal or Electronics refers to the flow of charge (moving Electrons through Nonmetal conductors (mainly Semiconductors, whereas electrical Ediswan became part of British Thomson-Houston and AEI in the late 1920s. [3]
Photography
When working with wet photographic plates, Swan noticed that heat increased the sensitivity of the silver bromide emulsion. By 1871 he had devised a method of drying the wet plates, initiating the age of convenience in photography. Eight years later he patented bromide paper, developments of which are still used for black and white photographic prints.
Three years later, while searching for a better carbon filament for his light bulb, Swan patented a process for squeezing nitro-cellulose through holes to form fibres. The textile industry has used his process.
Swan was knighted in 1904. He died in 1914 at Warlingham in Surrey. Warlingham is a large Village on the south-eastern boundary of London, England, just across the border in Tandridge district east Surrey Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties.
References
- ^ Lamp Inventors 1880-1940: Carbon Filament Incandescent
- ^ Pam, D. (1977),The New Enfield: Stories of Enfield Edmonton and Southgate, a Jubilee History, London Borough of Enfield Libraries, Arts & Entertainment Dept
- ^ Lewis J. (2001), London's Lea Valley: More Secrets Revealed, Phillimore, ISBN 1-86077-190-4
External links
- Tyne & Wear Archives Service Joseph Swan collection
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