The history of lighting shows that no matter how many new kinds of lights are invented, the old ones are never completely replaced. So it is not surprising that the ordinary incandescent light bulb remains the most popular choice for lighting our homes, despite the proliferation of new lighting technologies that has taken place during the twentieth century. Although many improvements have made incandescent lighting more efficient than ever, the bulb that was introduced in the late 1800s and refined in the early 1900s is basically the same type of light bulb that we buy in the supermarket or hardware store today.

The development of a practical incandescent lamp spanned many decades of research. In the early 1800s, scientists knew that strips of platinum or other metals would glow when electrically heated to the point of incandescence. When electricity is conducted through a metal...