Artificial Light: Its Influence upon CivilizationLuckiesh, Matthew
History
Artificial Light: Its Influence upon Civilization
Luckiesh, Matthew
Electric lighting; Lighting -- History
The most extensive applications of artificial daylight have been made by
means of the electric incandescent filament lamp, equipped with a
colored glass which alters the light to the same quality as daylight.
The light from the electric filament lamp is richer in yellow, orange,
and red rays than daylight, and by knowing the spectral character of the
two illuminants and the spectral characteristics of colored glasses in
which various chemicals have been incorporated, it is possible to
develop a colored glass which will filter out of the excess of yellow,
orange, and red rays so that the transmitted light is of the same
spectral character as daylight. Thousands of such artificial daylight
units are now in use in the industries, in stores, in laboratories, in
dye-works, in print-shops, and in many other places. Currency and
Liberty Bonds have been made under artificial daylight and such units
are in use in banks for the detection of counterfeit currency. The
diamond expert detects the color of jewels and the microscopist is
certain of the colors of his stains under artificial daylight. The dyer
mixes his dyes for the coloring of tons of valuable silk and the artist
paints under this artificial light. These are only a few of a vast
number of applications of artificial daylight, but they illustrate that
mankind is independent of natural light in another respect.
There are various kinds of daylight, two of which are fairly constant in
spectral character. These are noon sunlight and north skylight. The
former may be said to be white light and its spectrum indicates the
presence of visible radiant energy of all wave-lengths in approximately
equal proportions. North skylight contains an excess of violet, blue,
and blue-green rays and as a consequence is a bluish white. Noon
sunlight on a clear day is fairly constant in spectral character, but
north skylight varies somewhat depending upon the absence or presence of
clouds and upon the character of the clouds. If large areas of sunlit
clouds are present, the light is largely reflected sunlight. If the sky
is overcast, the north skylight is a result of a mixture of sunlight and
blue skylight filtered through the clouds and is slightly bluish. If the
sky is clear, the light varies from light blue to deep blue.
[Illustration: FIREWORKS AND ILLUMINATED BATTLE-FLEET AT HUDSON-FULTON
CELEBRATION]
[Illustration: FIREWORKS EXHIBITION ON MAY DAY AT PANAMA-PACIFIC
EXPOSITION]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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