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Joseph Swan (1828-1914) was a physicist, chemist, and inventor who developed a successful incandescent light bulb using carbon filaments. He was the first to install electric lighting in homes and public buildings, such as the Savoy Theatre, London, in 1881.
Joseph Swan (born October 31, 1828, Sunderland, Durham, England—died May 27, 1914, Warlingham, Surrey) was an English physicist and chemist who produced an early electric lightbulb and invented the dry photographic plate, an important improvement in photography and a step in the development of modern photographic film.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Early Research & Development
- Joseph Swan vs. Thomas Edison
- First Practical Incandescent Lightbulb
- Additional Resources
The story of the lightbulb begins long before Edison patented the first commercially successful bulb in 1879. In 1800, Italian inventor Alessandro Volta developed the first practical method of generating electricity, the voltaic pile. Made of alternating discs of zinc and copper— interspersed with layers of cardboard soaked in salt water — the pile...
In 1850, English chemist Joseph Swan began trying to make electrical light more economical, and by 1860 he had developed a lightbulb that used carbonized paper filaments in place of those made of platinum, according to the BBC. Swan received a patent in the U.K. in 1878, and in February 1879 he demonstrated a working lamp in a lecture in Newcastle,...
Where Edison surpassed his competition was in developing a practical and inexpensive lightbulb, according to the DOE. Edison and his team of researchers tested more than 3,000 designs for bulbs between 1878 and 1880. In Nov. 1879, Edison filed a patent for an electric lamp with a carbon filament, according to the National Archives.The patent listed...
Read more about Franklin's invention at the Franklin Institute. Learn more about Thomas Edison's life from MIT. Watch a video about how light bulbs work from minutephysics on YouTube.
Sir Joseph Wilson Swan (31 October 1828 – 27 May 1914), an English physicist, chemist, and inventor, stands as a brilliant example of the quintessential British innovator. Best known as the independent early developer of a successful incandescent light bulb, Swan's enduring legacy extends far beyond the sphere of his famous invention.
Learn about Joseph Swan, a British chemist who developed a carbon filament lamp in 1879, but lost out to Edison in the patent wars. Discover how Swan invented the cellulose filament and formed the Ediswan company with Edison.
Learn about Sir Joseph Swan, a pioneer of electric lighting, photography and a President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers. Find out his achievements, inventions, patents and challenges in the history of electric light.
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Dec 18, 2009 · 1878: Joseph Swan demonstrates the electric lamp to the Newcastle Chemical Society in northern England. The incandescent light bulb has become synonymous with Thomas Edison. But Swan was the first ...
