Lengthening the Day: A History of Lighting Technology [Hardcover]

Brian Bowers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 5, 1998

Throughout human history people have used light to lengthen their day. Modern life is now inconceivable without the light bulb, but up until the nineteenth century the only useful source of light was flame. This fascinating volume explains how light--from primitive torches to florescent lighting--has affected our daily lives. The book describes how oil lamps, candles, and gas lights work and outlines the principles of all the main types of electric lights now available. Thoroughly illustrated, Lengthening the Day provides a history of lighting, along with contemporary uses and technical details. Quotations from Aristophanes to Jane Austen, and from James Boswell to Kenneth Grahame, illustrate the social importance of lighting.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Clearly infatuated with antique lightening systems, Bowers manages to engage the reader in his avocation by speeding through the chronology of lighting, and by moving fluidly among the many facets of each ear's technology. A measure of his success at striking this delicate balance is that I finished the book wanting more, with an appetite whetted for deeper explanations of the physical principles of lighting and curious to learn the very lastest developments and applications, particularly regarding the technical workhorses of our ear: aeronautics, computers, entertainment and medicine.

Lighting is an intriguing combination of invention, technology, marketing and social change. all this diverse information is presented in an easily readable style and once you have started reading, it is a difficult book to put down s CIBSE Newsletter

`When a new book is published from the pen of Dr Brian Bowers one expects a book that is well researched, technically accurate and easy to read, set in the social and economic scene of the time. The present volume fulfils that expectation admirably...At under L25 it is good value for a book that will be read not just once but will be a valuable reference source.' Engineering Science and Education Journal

About the Author

Dr Brian Bowers, 89 Brockenhurst Avenue, Worcester Park, Surrey KT4 7RH. Tel: [phone] (Home), 0171 938 8099 (Office). Email: [e-mail] (Office)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 242 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 5, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198565488
• ISBN-13: 978-0198565482
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,873,324 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent survey of lighting technology, May 29, 2005

By 

Christian Schlubach (cambridge, ma usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lengthening the Day: A History of Lighting Technology (Hardcover)

Lenghtening the Day is a survey of the history of lighting technology from ancient lamps and candles to the discharge lamps and flourescent lighting of modern times. However, the bulk of the book focuses on developments within the last couple of centuries. Bowers offers the reader three kinds of analysis: a historical overview of when, how and by whom different types of lighting were developed, a technical understanding of how different lighting technologies work and a glimpse at how they were received by the public and what it was like to live with them. One of the most interesting things about the book may be its analysis of the transitionary period, roughly 1830's to the end of the nineteenth century, between candle lighting, modern gas lighting and the advent of electric lighting.

Overall, the book is informative and entertaining. It is also well illustrated with exploded diagrams, reproductions of etchings, and a few pages of color images. Keep in mind that it's a survey; so while it will give you a great overview of modern lighting development it won't go into as much detail as some books, such as "Dark Light" by Linda Simon, which more specifically chronicles the anxieties that accompanied the use of modern lighting.