Artificial Light: Its Influence upon CivilizationLuckiesh, Matthew
History
Artificial Light: Its Influence upon Civilization
Luckiesh, Matthew
Electric lighting; Lighting -- History
upon at present in many photographic and other chemical processes.
Although two illuminants may be of the same luminous intensity, they may
differ widely in actinic value. It is impossible to rate the different
illuminants in a general manner as to actinic value because the various
photochemical reactions are not affected to the same extent by rays of a
given wave-length. Nearly all human eyes see visible rays in
approximately the same manner, but the multitude of chemical reactions
show a wide variation in sensitivity to the various rays. For example,
one photographic emulsion may be sensitive only to ultra-violet, violet,
and blue rays and another to all these rays and also to the green,
yellow, and red. Therefore, one illuminant may be superior to another
for one photochemical reaction, while the reverse may be true in the
case of another reaction. In general, it may be said that the arc-lamps
including the mercury-arcs provide the most active illuminants for
photochemical processes; however, a large number of electric
incandescent filament lamps are used in photographic work.
The photo-engraver has been independent of sunlight since the practical
development of his art. In fact, the printer could not depend upon
sunlight for making the engravings which are used to illustrate the
magazines and newspapers. The newspaper photographer may make a
"flashlight" exposure, develop his negative, and make a print from it
under artificial light. He may turn this over to the photo-engraver who
carries out his work by means of powerful arc-lamps and in an hour or
two after the original exposure was made the newspaper containing the
illustration is being sold on the streets.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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