Evolution of Electric Lamps
Although technological progress has enabled different lamps to be produced, the main factors influencing their development have been external market forces. For example, the production of filament lamps in use at the start of this century was possible only after the availability of good vacuum pumps and the drawing of tungsten wire. However, it was the large-scale generation and distribution of electricity to meet the demand for electric lighting that determined market growth. Electric lighting offered many advantages over gas- or oil-generated light, such as steady light that requires infrequent maintenance as well as the increased safety of having no exposed flame, and no local by-products of combustion.
