Bartley Technologies Inc., Monthly Newletter - History & Science Of 'Cutting-Edge' Products

A PROLOGUE -- We know from United Nations data that a significant percentage of the population of the world still depends on the open flames of camp fires or smoky tallow lamps to see and to read by after sunset. And, it was not much more than 50 years ago that many of our parents or grandparents who lived or visited farms and ranches witnessed the transition to electric power as REA spanned America. Yes, we still enjoy today, as our ancestors did, evenings of good cuisine and fine wine by candle light, but we are totally dependent on that light switch on wall for lighting our every-day living. It is always a pleasure to see towns or campuses where antique street lamps have been preserved as one reminiscenses about the 'old lamp lighter.' But those thoughts verge on 'mythology,' with little insight into what those 'stewards of the night' actually did to ensure that a town was adaquately lit. Interestingly, around the turn of the century, innovation significantly changed the nature of the old lamp lighter's twice-daily rounds. Now, over a quarter of a century before, several ingenious ideas profoundly interior artificial lighting. Among those was a design for a light that utilized a new, thinner version 'coal oil', i.e., kerosene, that would foretell an age of much brighter interior lighting that you could much more easily read by. Unfortunately, this novel lamp was clumsy compared to its contemporary -- the simple wicked coal oil lamp, and as 'carried lantern' was destined to burn down its share of barns. Such a light, though, must have been a real first for the 'over-45-year-old' scholars who enjoyed reading at bedtime. Then, in 1879 came the incondescent electric bulb the occasion of which is dramatized in a now famous General Electric TV ad illustrating the beginning of night football. Why the particular shape that has persisted light bulbs to this day is an interesting story in that it goes to "early cloning" still practiced in good marketing today. As we talk about the history of lighting, some examples of beautiful old historic lamps will be shown, many of which come from the Author's own personal collection in a century-old home here in the Texas Hill Country.

This newsletter series, which deals with the birth of 'cutting-edge' products, attempts in each issue to sketch some of the history and science of specific products that, through our every day use over many decades, have in fact become so transparent that we now take them for granted totally. As you can guess from the above, and the PREVIEW that we have had posted on our web site, this issue is intended to shed some 'light' on the history of lighting over the last century or so. I delayed this issue when we decided after the events of September 11, 2001 to proceed with plans for a one-month business trip to Europe -- this turned out to be important to the subject of this ISSUE given what we learned about a major advancement in interior lighting now available in Europe, but just now becoming available in the U.S. -- more about this later.

The story begins with man's use of candles for artificial light that dates back at least 2000 years.. Common during the colonial period in America were candle-powered sconces such as the clasic Williansburg globed units shown above our great room fireplace in the #4 antique fan photo in ISSUE - 3 of the Newletter. A very practical embellishment here

is the placement above each sconce of crystal glass smoke bell that will collect soit to reduce staining of a ceiling. The candle period brought other interesting inventions. In our bar we have a beautiful milticolor cranberry-glass unit (see right) innovatively rigged to rise on a pulleyed-chain when the base is pulled down to access and to light its original candle light source.

The street lamp (below) on our ranch that originally came

from Germantown, PA was actually built a few years before a patent was issued, sometime around 1875. This very rare prototype unit is distinguished by its cast iron 'bridge' that supports the 2-foot tall blown-glass globe. '

'Production' models produced a few years later -- they have the glass globe supported by an extended post collar -- can still be seen in a few parks and on campuses around the country. Candles were the original light source in these majestic lamps that had to be hand lit nightly by -- yes, you guessed it -- the old lamp lighter! Replacement of the candles was facilitated by a hinged cast-iron flange that allows the milk-glass dome to be swung open.

Although gas had come into use for street lamps in London and other European cities in the early 1800's, the distribution infrastructure for natural gas in U.S. towns and cities came toward the end of the century. So, around 1900 these lamps were piped for gas. What was innovative, however, is that the earliest burner units installed (see left) featured a pilot light (as did ovens and stoves). So, the old lamp lighter no longer had to provide a flame -- he simply reached up with a six inch rod through a hole at the base of the lamp to move a 2" rocker-arm and voila, the gas light came on. He extinguished it the same way. Thus was written a new 'job description' through progress and innovation.

Now let's go back in time and see what was happening with interior lighting that had moved from candles to oil lamps (like the Waterford Crystal replica at the right) in the early to mid-1800's. Except for the addition of reflectors, it is said that until the late 1700's, few improvments occurred in lamps from that of the fat-burning cruise lamps (or the American colonists' Betty lamps that burned whale oil) developed in the Middle Ages.

The first innovation to provide a brighter light was the Swiss (Aime Argand) invention of a hollow wick that allowed air to reach the center of the flame. Then, the invention of the glass chimney resulted in still better burning, and this came from that same Swiss laboratory. There were other improvements afforded by availability of better fuels including colza oil made from rape seed and an exciting new petroleum product, kerosene, that became plentiful with the birth of the oil industry in the mid-1800's.

In parallel with the evolution of oil lamps were innovative developments in lamps that burned various kinds of gas including coal gas, natural gas, water gas, and the like. A Scottish engineer by the name of Murdock developed in 1792 the first commercially successful gas lamp. Many of the early gas lamps installed in homes (like the chandelier in our bedroom shown at the left) had a valve cock by which one turned on the gas for each lamp. Each lamp was lighted by a match by reaching through holes at the base. These early lamps operated with an open flame, and a glass shade protected the flame from direct wind currents and also provided safety from objects that might inadvertantly be ignited. However such lamps had inherant flickering problems. Therefore, there was a trend toward adding glass chimneys to gas lamps to reduce the flicker as in the case of the Argand oil lamps mentioned above.

But the most important breakthrough in gas lamp technology was the invention of the mantle -- a loosely woven cloth bag soaked with a fireproof chemical substance that glows steadily as the gas burns around it. The cloth bag burned away within a short time leaving only the fragile chemical skeliton which would surviive for years if not disturbed. This system provided 'structure' for significant temperature increases in the fuel/oxygen combustion and produced an amazing increse in the light produced. All of us who have carried a Coleman lantern on camping trips are familiar with the small mantles on these propane units and the very reliable light that they put out. Shown at the right is an early Coleman ceiling light that we have in our master bath. On farms and ranches, with but the simplest fermenation gas generation system, this design produced a dramatic improvement in light generation over the open flame gas lamps shown above.

lnvention of the Lindsay Light at the right was made possible by the availability of kerosene which was much thinner than the other 'coal oils.' It was calculated that with a head of about 30 inches, this low viscosity fuel would flow through a 1/16th-inch ID tube under gravity alone. The lamp was arranged so that this tube passed up and around through the flame and then down through another loop to a micro nozzle pointed upward at the flame center. This, in effect, produced a regeneration process that converts the heated oil to a gas (farmers and ranchers will be familiar with this -- a cactus pear burner works on exactly the same regeneration process). The result is to produce a flame of the burning quality of a gas light, not the old smoky 'oil flame.' And, of course, the final configuration incorporated a mantle we talked about earlier.. The result was a new kind of lamp that produced a steady light with a stunning improvement in brightness. Someone over 45 years old with the usual beginning stages of degredation in iris accomodation could now read for the first time a fine print book after sunset!

Because the basic Lindsay Light design required verticle piped separation between its grapefruit-size brass kerosene tank and the flame regeneration loop, the total lamp assembly had to be roughly three feet tall. Also, it had to be hung upright at all times. This was not particularly a problem at fixed locations, but in the 1800's most non-tethered lamps were also used as portable lanterns. Not only was the Lindsay an ungainly device as a lantern, it also apparently was known to drip burning kerosene when jarred. This gave it a reputation for burning down its share of barns! Inspite of these weaknesses, however, these lamps -- particularly the staff-shaped versions (see pair we have in our master bath in addition to the harp-shaped one above) -- were very artistic. And, for their time, these were amazing light sources. Interestingly, these lights received relatively little notice in the history books given the fact that apparently only a small number found their way into the market place. However, because of their rarity, these lamps are highly coveted by collectors today.

When the electric incandescent light bulb came on the scene in 1879 (patented by Thomas Edison, probably the greatest inventor in history), artifical lighting was revolutionized. Yet, it took many decades for suitable lifetime, efficiency and reliability to be built into the bulb and to wire our towns and cities for electricity. But the old lamp lighter would eventually lose his job as the gas lamps were replaced. Before we leave this subject, however, let's go back and take one more look at that old street lamp.

Looking at it up close (see photo at left) we see that the gas unit installed around 1900, with its own pilot light (small verticle tube), has a mantle and has an interesting glass chimney (note glass inside of glass). You will notice that the chimney is 'upsidedown' from that on the Waterford oil lamp referenced earlier. This is done because the flame center is higher, and the designer's aim was to place the glass such that it is as far from the flame as possible to prevent heat cracking the glass.

Now, think about the silhouette of this light source (i.e., the now inverted chimney) and the clasic shape of the incandescent light bulb that is still preserved today -- one would conclude that this similarity is no accident. Is it not true that when you go on the market with an alternative product, what you may do to help gain acceptance to the degree possible is to make it look like a 'clone.' Yes, you reason that the hot tungsten element must be kept some distance from the base that requires a cooler glass-to-metal seal -- so the glass envelope needs to be largest where the light emits. Good reasoning, but there surely was a marketing aspect to this configuration also.

While we are still on the subject of street lights and the electric revolution, we should comment on the evolultion of outdoor lighting. When we built, in the late 1970s, our tennis court in Potomac, MD outside Washington D.C., the gold standard for lighting a court was 500 watt or 1000 watt mercury vapor low profile fixtures. Although these large-base bulbs take 3-4 minutes to come up to full brightness (and the ballasts were known to explode over the years), they were certainly much easier to operate than the arc lamps used in movie theather projectors and World's Fair search lights early in the century. And they are far more efficient than incandescent bulbs. But, environmental concerns about the element mercury is now resulting in banning use of mercury vapor lamps for new construction. Hence, as we landscape a newly restored and expanded library here in Bandera (author is County Chair for Restoration) we are installing in a beautiful oak tree in the court yard a dozen highly efficient 35 watt metal halide PAR 30 medium-base fixtures. Light candlepower output from these units is impressive, but they also require special ballast boxes (we're using Hadco). Unfortunately the Listed fixtures warn 'not for use in dwellings.'

It took nearly half a century to get reliable electric distribution to some rural parts of our country. The early electric lamp

fixtures installed in historic King William District in San Antonio, in the German settlement Sunday Houses out in the Hill Country, and on farms and on ranches were specially designed to make the transition from gas to electricity. The fixtures combined electric bulbs with gas lamps (see ceiling and sconce versions at right in our large guest bath) to ensure that there was reliable lighting. And in the early days of the REA (Rural Electrification Authority) it was the gas portion of the utility service that was considered most reliable, not the electric.In the end, with exception of storm season interuptions and politically prompted rolling blackouts in California, our electric lights now seldom go out in America. That is not to say, however, that the electric utilities, infrastructures, and wiring technologies that power the lights in American. homes today are 'on the cutting edge.' Quite the contrary.

We have much yet to do to catch up with other parts of the developed world in terms of efficient lighting of our homes and upgrading our quite inferior and long outdated wiring codes. If one compares a simple 115 volt 60 cycle electrical junction box in a new U.S. home today with that of a U.S. home built back in the 1930's, little progress in technology can be observed! Wire junctions are still twisted except they are now protected by a wire nut (an innovation that is notoriously problematic) instead of the old fashioned black friction tape. Asbestos insulation on wires has been removed to make repair more environmentally safe for a technician and to satisfy color codes. Ground wires have been added , but armor sleaving has given way to cheap romex pairs. And finally, just as the SUVs and Pickups we drive are super gas guzzlers, many of the homes in this country now have 400 amp service instead of the more reasonable 200 amp service of ten years ago. You find a very different picture in Europe.

Junction boxes and wire sizes are much smaller in Europe because current for comparable wattage bulb, for instance, is halved since European countries use 230 volt 50 cycle. The relative safety of their higher voltage, delta wound system compared to the U.S.wye wound system can be debated, but the E.U. countries have made great strides in the last decade to make electrical outlets and plugs much safer and more standardized. Inside the junction boxes every wire connection is secured by set screws, not by twisting and problematic wire nuts. By cutting the current demands, their power losses (so called -I-squared-R) going into a home are reduced and power entry demands for a typical house are more than halved or quartered compared to a typical U.S. home. We stayed with friends when we were in the South of France -- a beautiful estate with a 70 foot long, 12 foot deep, high-tech, non-clorine-based swimming pool and separate electrically heated 3-bedroom guest house. Yet, with all their amenites, the electrical power entry box for the place, including main house, was 60 amps I believe.

My wife and I stayed in the guest house which had been recently rennovated, and I noticed immediately the subtle mini-size recessed lighting (see left) -- something

I have never seen in a U.S. home. The lights it turned out are low voltage 3-inch flush mounted rims (fixed or tiltable) that use the same 'PAR' size Halogens as those used in concession stands in our shopping malls -- wattages are 10 w., 20 w. or 35 w. producing light equivalent up to 60 watts. These elegently small recessed lights make even our smallest ceiling recessed fixtures (with 4-inch Trims) look clumsey and outdated.. But there is more to this story. The Europeans have eliminated the bulky and inefficient transformers we use to power 12-volt Halogens -- their codes now incorporate a solidstate 'stepdown' that also 'dims' the lights off and on (like dome lights in the newest sedans) to extend the life of the bulbs. This is a major economic factor. This type of lighting I believe is clearly 'the wave of the future.' I purchased a few of these units in France (marketed under the name Paulmann) and brought them home.

Back here in the States, I inquired if these recessed lights are, or are going to be, available. I noticed that Lutron has some lamp units illuminating their displays that slightly resemple these European fixtures, but then I was told that these display units are not available to consumers in the United States. However, after further investigation I was thrilled to learn that W-A-C (featuring a wide range of track, pendant and under-cabinet lighting sold by The Great Indoors) is now introducing in this country 3-inch low-voltage recessed lighting systems. Unfortunately, they require a bulky $ 40 transformer housing to meet American wiring codes. I am encouraged, though, to find that as part of W-A-Cs line of low voltage linear system track accessories, they now market 60-watt and 150-watt electronic surface mounted transformers that appear to be modelled after the compact solidstate stepdowns available in Europe. They have a web site: www.waclighting.com . Further research is needed to determined how their systems measure up to those in Europe in terms of sophistication, cost and reliability.-- but this appears to be good news!

Clearly, the future will bring exciting 'new new things' in more efficient and more attractive lighting in and around our homes. Already the incandescent bulb has been greatly improved in the quality of light it can produce -- a current example being the General Electric Reveal bulb providing stunning new indoor illumination. The article in the October 2001 issue of the National Geographic on Light not only stimulates thinking about the science of light, but also provides excellent examples of how entrepreneural physicists like Nobel Lourete Charlie Townes (author worked with Townes over the years on several National Academy of Sciences studies) have improved the world through innovation. Looking back at the history of light over the last century, few of us can imagine what man will have achieved with light in 2102.

HISTORY & SCIENCE OF 'CUTTING-EDGE' PRODUCTS

A QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

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