The evolutionary history of light

Light is a magical thing. It appears around us every day and illuminates us, but sometimes it makes people inaccessible and unpredictable, but this does not prevent people from exploring them. Human beings have been on the road of exploring the light. Gradually, people learned to use some methods to obtain light, so the lamp appeared. Its existence saved us from being corroded by the night, lighted the way forward for us, and made the night less horrible.

In the world of light and shadow, after continuous exploration and innovation by human beings, lights have gradually become a perfect combination of light and art. Lighting has experienced the development process from fire, oil to electricity, and the same lighting methods have also undergone countless changes. In the beginning, torches were used to ignite lighting using animal fats, and then to lighting tools that used kerosene for industrial products, and finally to the peak of human development history, using electricity to create light. It also emerged that we are familiar with thermal radiation light sources, gas discharge light sources, and the most popular solid-state light-emitting technology today. The development history of lamps is the epitome of the development history of human civilization. This is a history of human beings constantly overcoming natural difficulties in pursuit of light. Sunmory would tell you Many interesting stories are left in the development history of lamps.

Mankind’s creation of fire began approximately in the middle of the Paleolithic period. When making stone tools, the stones collide with each other, and sparks are often emitted. Once, twice, hundreds of times, it did not attract people's attention. Occasionally, someone hit flint with pyrite or hematite, and the sparks that burst out on the pile of dry leaves lit it. People were inspired to find the same stones, experiment again and again, and finally learned how to make fire by impact. At the end of the Paleolithic period, people discovered friction to make fire, using two pieces of wood to rub against each other to make a fire. This makes the use of fire more convenient and widespread. In the process of conquering nature, human beings have turned myths into reality. They no longer have to go through hardships and steal fire like Prometheus.

Humans have a long history of using oil lamps for lighting. During this period, the oil lamp has undergone many improvements. The oil used in oil lamps was changed from animal oil to vegetable oil and finally replaced by kerosene. The wick has also undergone the change process of grass, cotton thread, and multi-strand cotton thread. To prevent the wind from blowing out the fire, people put a cover on the oil lamp. In the early days, the cover was pasted with paper, which was not safe. Later, it was changed to a glass cover. Such an oil lamp is not afraid of wind blowing, and it can be used outdoors, and it burns well and does not emit black smoke. But human beings are not satisfied. While using oil lamps for lighting, they are still looking for other lighting methods. Around the 3rd century BC, some people used beeswax to make candles. In the 18th century, candles made of paraffin appeared, and mass production of machines began.

The British invented the gas lamp more than 100 years ago, which made a big step forward for human lighting methods. Initially, this kind of lamp was very unsafe and easily dangerous when used indoors, so it was only used as a street lamp. Later, after improvements, it entered thousands of households. Lighting tools such as torches, candles, oil lamps, kerosene lamps, and gas lamps do not leave the fire. They are all illuminated by the light emitted by the burning of substances. So is there a way to illuminate without using fire? Someone once caught a large number of fireflies and used the fluorescent light emitted by the fireflies to illuminate them. Although this method is not practical, it is the most peculiar method in the history of human lighting. At the end of the 19th century, Edison invented the electric light. On October 22, 1879, Edison ignited the first electric light with wide practical value. Since then, the history of human lighting has been rewritten, and humans have entered the era of electric lighting.

There are more than hundreds of types of lamps on the market today. According to the light source, it can be divided into incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps, energy-saving lamps, and LED lamps. According to the industry, it can be divided into home lighting, commercial lighting, and engineering lighting. The home lighting can be divided into ceiling lamps, floor lamps, chandeliers, downlights, and so on.