“Vision Without Execution is Hallucination.” — Thomas A. Edison

If at First You Do Not Succeed…

An incandescent light bulb is an electric light with a wire filament heated until it glows. The filament is enclosed in a bulb to protect the filament from oxidation. Current is supplied to the filament by terminals or wires embedded in the glass. A bulb socket provides mechanical support and the electrical connection. Piece of cake!

Let us consider the variables: the shape of the sphere, thickness of the glass, type of inert gas to fill the bulb, metal of the filament, etc. Piece of cake! Let us consider what can go wrong: Wrong shape of glass…boom. Too thin glass…boom. Wrong gas…boom.

Contrary to popular belief, Edison was not the only inventor to speculate on a bulb to emanate light. He was, however, the inventor of the best version of the lightbulb.

Incandescent bulbs are manufactured in a wide range of sizes, light output, and voltage ratings. volts. They require no external regulating equipment, have low manufacturing costs, and work equally well on either alternating current or direct current. Wouldn’t that be a great name for a band! As a result, the incandescent bulb became widely used in household and commercial lighting, for portable lighting such as table lamps, car headlamps, flashlights, and for decorative and advertising lighting. To strike this delicate Goldilocks balance, it is widely held that Edison went through 10,000 iterations of his light bulb invention. One can imagine the audacity and perseverance of an individual tolerating all these ‘failures’ while toiling at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

“Opportunity Is Missed by Most People Because It Is Dressed in Overalls and Looks Like Work.” — Thomas A. Edison

 

Arguably America’s greatest inventor, Thomas Alva Edison had an extraordinarily positive perception of life that greatly enhanced his ability as an inventor. When others might have been hopelessly discouraged after failing thousands of times in an attempt to develop an electric light, the great Edison simply viewed each unsuccessful experiment as the elimination of a solution that wouldn’t work, thereby moving him that much closer to a successful solution. We could all take a lesson from Edison.

“Someday, Man Will Harness the Rise and Fall of The Tides, Imprison the Power of The Sun, and Release Atomic Power.” — Thomas A. Edison

Stories abound about inventors who quit trying and gave up too soon or miners who struck gold just a few feet beyond where someone else quit digging. There are few obstacles in life that will not succumb to consistent, sustained, intelligent, positive action. When you are discouraged after you have failed at something, remember Edison’s 10,000 failures before he arrived at the solution that forever changed the world.

 

1. Outline of Glass bulb

2. Low pressure inert gas (argon, nitrogen, krypton, xenon)

3. Tungsten filament

4. Contact wire (out of stem)

5. Contact wire (into stem)

6. Support wires (one end embedded in stem; conducts no current)

7. Stem (glass mount)

8. Contact wire (out of stem)

9. Cap (sleeve)

10. Insulation (vitrite)

11. Electrical contact

Published By Luigi Rosabianca of Shield Advisory Group