You are a boy born in a middle-class family in Yorkshire, Britain in 1856. You a

Question

You are a boy born in a middle-class family in Yorkshire, Britain in 1856. You are fond of physics, and your school teacher once told you that you should definitely pursue a science career. You then got an apprenticeship opportunity at a bulb manufacturer in 1875. Your supervisor is very satisfied with your performance and wants you to stay for a permanent position. The post will be about managing the production of electrical light bulbs, of which they already have a prototype. However, you are not happy about the prototype, which blackens too often You believe that you will come up with a novel bulb that lasts for longer. You need a lab for experiment, but the manufacturer does not have a wel equipped one. Your family needs your salary, as you are not from the upper class. What will you do? Keywords/clues: science as career, professional training, innovation, patent, industry, 19C laboratory, key inventions in the history of bulbs

Explanation / Answer

This is a life story of an English physicist named Joseph Wilson Swan, who created a “light bulb” by enclosing carbonized paper filaments in an evacuated glass bulb, in 1850. By 1860 he had a working prototype, but the lack of a good vacuum and an adequate supply of electricity resulted in a bulb whose lifetime was much too short to be considered an effective prodcer of light. In the 1870’s better vacuum pumps became available and Swan continued experiments on light bulbs. In 1878, Swan developed a longer lasting light bulb using a treated cotton thread that also removed the problem of early bulb blackening. Swan must have lived a balanced life. He must have given his salary to his family as a middle-class person.

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