User:Corkbits
The Light Bulb
It takes just one finger to flip the switch and turn on a light bulb, but what do you really know about this simple contraption? Well, first of all, it’s not as “simple” as you may think. Light bulbs are born in factories, live in buildings and houses, and usually die when they get all “used up”. The light bulb can come in different varieties, such as neon, fluorescent, flash, gas, and candle. The well known flashlight was given the nick name “Electric Flower-pot”, because it was a stick with light coming out from one end. Also, there are at least 10 kinds of light bulbs, and about 15 light bulbs in one house. Also, no one really “invented” the light, because it was always there... the SUN! However, Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan combined forces to make the company “Ediswan”, a company that made light bulbs. The two persons who made this invention most famous are as you know, Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan. Thomas Edison was working on one of the first incandescent lights in the USA, while in the UK, Sir Joseph Swan was working on the same exact thing. These two men both used carbonized paper filaments to make the incandescent light bulb make light. The Three other persons who “perfected” the incandescent light bulb are Antoine Lavoisier, Robert Von Bunsen, and Conrad Hubert. You can see light bulbs every where. On neon signs you usually see “open” or “closed”. Under tricked-out cars, neon lights might be seen. The light bulb sometimes is known as the cousin of the sun. They are both sources of light, but the sun is hot. The moon can be like a light bulb, reflecting the suns rays to bring light to the midnight hours. You may be watching a cartoon and a light bulb might pop up on the top of someone’s head. It has been known to be that they “have an idea”. Another famous identity of the light bulb is the popular joke, “How many.... does it take to change a light bulb?”. The lightbulb joke is an example of an endless-variations joke and has possibly thousands of versions covering every imaginable culture, belief, occupation and special-interest group. Generally the punchline is not complimentary to the group providing the subject of the joke. In France a light bulb is known as an ampoule (de lumiere). In Germany it is known as an Gluhlape. In Italy it is known as an lapadina. Now, like the light bulb, this too has shed more light on the subject of this “easy” contraption.