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Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light
This “superb history” of artificial light traces the evolution of society—“invariably fascinating and often original . . . [it] amply lives up to its title” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). In Brilliant, Jane Brox explores humankind’s ever-changing relationship to artificial light, from the stone lamps of the Pleistocene to the LEDs embedded in fabrics of the future. More than a survey of technological development, this sweeping history reveals how artificial light changed our world, and how those social and cultural changes in turn led to the pursuit of more ways of spreading, maintaining, and controlling light. Brox plumbs the class implications of light—who had it, who didn’t—through the centuries when crude lamps and tallow candles constricted waking hours. She identifies the pursuit of whale oil as the first time the need for light thrust us toward an environmental tipping point. Only decades later, gas street lights opened up the evening hours to leisure, which changed the ways we live and sleep and the world’s ecosystems. Edison’s bulbs produced a light that seemed to its users all but divorced from human effort or cost. And yet, as Brox’s informative portrait of our current grid system shows, the cost is ever with us. Brilliant is infused with human voices, startling insights, and timely questions about how our future lives will be shaped by light
373 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 29, 2010
77 people are currently reading
1140 people want to read
About the author
Jane Brox
9 books21 followersJANE BROX is the author of Clearing Land, Five Thousand Days Like This One, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and Here and Nowhere Else, which received the L. L. Winship/PEN New England Award. She lives in Maine"
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
August 7, 2019
From the faintest glow of a prehistoric campfire to to the brilliant display of Time Square this book takes us through the history of artificial light and the implications it has on humanity and the natural world. The author uncovers the past and projects toward the future. The book contains vivid descriptions and in depth research. I enjoyed this book very much.
April 17, 2019
‘Brilliant’ is a pleasing accompaniment to At Day's Close: Night in Times Past, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power, and Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams, popular histories of nighttime, oil, and sleep respectively. Brox turns the focus instead to unnatural light over the centuries in engaging, episodic fashion. It’s hard to grasp the full import of the changes that artificial light has wrought, and I’m not sure such a short book could ever do so. Although Brox’s perspective is largely US-centric, the book creditably addresses racial and geographical inequalities in access to light. It’s difficult to build a wholly coherent narrative from such a broad global transformation, so the memorable highlights of the book are somewhat scattered. I especially appreciated learning about the history of lighthouses, the first house to have electric lights requiring a coal boiler in the basement, the revolting process of rendering whale oil, and the World’s Columbian Exposition. Brox marshals an impressive range of sources and some lovely quotes, such as this on the 1965 New York blackout:
Indeed, by the end of the book I felt a little ambivalent about artificial light. A chapter on the Lascaux caves and another on light pollution are reminders of how costly our profligacy with light can be. Not that I don’t rely upon it to read past midnight, of course, and am certainly not about to give it up. Still, I loved Brox’s description of the Soft House idea:
The chapters on slow-paced rural electrification are less interesting, as to the European reader they merely demonstrate the baffling American reluctance to intervene in manifestly dysfunctional free markets. Otherwise, though, this is a fascinating compendium of light-related social insights.
The moonlight lay on the streets like thick snow, and we had a curious, persistent feeling that we were leaving footprints in it. Something was odd about buildings and corners in this beautiful light. The city presented a tilted aspect, and ever our fellow pedestrians, chattering with implacable cheerfulness, appeared foreshortened as they passed; they made us think of people running downhill. It was a bloc more before we understood: The shadows, for once, all fell in the same direction - away from the easterly, all-illuminating moon… We were in a night forest and for a change, home lay not merely uptown but north.
Indeed, by the end of the book I felt a little ambivalent about artificial light. A chapter on the Lascaux caves and another on light pollution are reminders of how costly our profligacy with light can be. Not that I don’t rely upon it to read past midnight, of course, and am certainly not about to give it up. Still, I loved Brox’s description of the Soft House idea:
A flexible network made of multiple, adaptable, and co-operative light-emitting textiles that can be touched, held, and used by homeowners, according to their needs. [...] Translucent moveable curtains along the perimeter convert sunlight into energy during the day, shading the house in summer and creating an insulating air layer in winter. Folded downward, a central curtain establishes a habitable off-the-grid energy harvesting room. Folded upward, this luminous curtain becomes a suspended soft chandelier.
The chapters on slow-paced rural electrification are less interesting, as to the European reader they merely demonstrate the baffling American reluctance to intervene in manifestly dysfunctional free markets. Otherwise, though, this is a fascinating compendium of light-related social insights.
July 6, 2018
We bookworms are familiar with the old cliche: reading in bed, our partner asleep beside us, lost in a book that we read by bedside lamplight. As children, we huddled beneath blankets with a flashlight and read long past bedtime, hoping mom and dad wouldn't peek in and catch us. Like all minor marvels of technology, constant use and easy exposure have deadened us to what is by all rights a miracle: consistent, ready, omnipresent light, available on demand with a simple flick of a switch. Adjustable. Dimmable. Reusuable. Even in a blackout, we've struck matches and lit candles around which we can read spooky stories to pass the time until ComEd or whoever gets the system back online.
This book will help you to appreciate just how lucky you are to be living in the present day, and just how much work our predecessors put in to have that which we now take for granted. In an interconnected style fitting for its focus, the book links surprisingly diverse topics—from whaling to racial relations at the Chicago World's Fair to calls for energy independence after the American blackouts of the 1960s and 70s to Circadian rhythms and human-generated lights' impact on the diverse species we share the planet with—all these touch on and are touched by the development and proliferation of electricity and artificial light in today's world.
4 stars out of 5. Brox's sweeping, theatrical writing makes this a fun read but sometimes the narrative gets a little muddy and the author assumes a lot from us in terms of foreknowledge. I had to search up images of Lascaux Cave and the many paintings she refers to, had to struggle to envision things like Roman lanterns and European streetlights which she talks about but doesn't fully articulate details of, and similarly had to reread her descriptions of early firestarting methods more than once to fully picture them. But while it's not the most precise scientific explanation of how lights work, it is a thorough success as a cultural history of how lights changed society.
This book will help you to appreciate just how lucky you are to be living in the present day, and just how much work our predecessors put in to have that which we now take for granted. In an interconnected style fitting for its focus, the book links surprisingly diverse topics—from whaling to racial relations at the Chicago World's Fair to calls for energy independence after the American blackouts of the 1960s and 70s to Circadian rhythms and human-generated lights' impact on the diverse species we share the planet with—all these touch on and are touched by the development and proliferation of electricity and artificial light in today's world.
4 stars out of 5. Brox's sweeping, theatrical writing makes this a fun read but sometimes the narrative gets a little muddy and the author assumes a lot from us in terms of foreknowledge. I had to search up images of Lascaux Cave and the many paintings she refers to, had to struggle to envision things like Roman lanterns and European streetlights which she talks about but doesn't fully articulate details of, and similarly had to reread her descriptions of early firestarting methods more than once to fully picture them. But while it's not the most precise scientific explanation of how lights work, it is a thorough success as a cultural history of how lights changed society.
June 27, 2013
I have to admit disappointment in this book. While aspects of it were interesting and engaging, I found it on the whole to lack focus and direction, and most importantly of all, to not really be about the history of light.
I had high hopes.
As an Interior Designer, my work relies heavily on the use of light, and as such I have learned fascinating things about it over the years: why HID lamps are used in conjunction with green signs on the highway, the methods of making a space illuminated to create sparkle or ambience, the vastly broad range of fluorescent color temperatures and dimming apparatuses. None of this was discussed.
Additionally not discussed:
--When (and how) light was integrated into automobile use, as well as how it has changed the way we use our cars.
--The role and use of light in aviation.
--The way lighting impacted travel outside the home and immediate area.
--The development of theatrical lighting
The author seemed to meander around the actual concept of the HISTORY of light, instead choosing to discuss the ramifications of light, which would have been fine had the book not been billed as 'A brief history of light.' Brox herself seemed more interested in the development and use of electricity, a topic which would have made a fine central focus for a book, just not this one.
The lack of cohesive direction and disjointed writing style made this book arduous for me, start to finish. C- for me.
I had high hopes.
As an Interior Designer, my work relies heavily on the use of light, and as such I have learned fascinating things about it over the years: why HID lamps are used in conjunction with green signs on the highway, the methods of making a space illuminated to create sparkle or ambience, the vastly broad range of fluorescent color temperatures and dimming apparatuses. None of this was discussed.
Additionally not discussed:
--When (and how) light was integrated into automobile use, as well as how it has changed the way we use our cars.
--The role and use of light in aviation.
--The way lighting impacted travel outside the home and immediate area.
--The development of theatrical lighting
The author seemed to meander around the actual concept of the HISTORY of light, instead choosing to discuss the ramifications of light, which would have been fine had the book not been billed as 'A brief history of light.' Brox herself seemed more interested in the development and use of electricity, a topic which would have made a fine central focus for a book, just not this one.
The lack of cohesive direction and disjointed writing style made this book arduous for me, start to finish. C- for me.
December 24, 2013
"Brilliant" was an interesting look at the evolution of light. The research was strong, but the writing was quite inconsistent with moments of poetic lyricism interspersed with poorly told stories and snippets if weakly veiled propaganda. I don't think I would read another book by this author, but I would consider recommending this book to someone with a deep interest in the subject. Overall, my response to the book us "meh."
September 2, 2010
This was a really interesting book about something we pretty much take for granted: artificial light. Brox takes us back to the Stone Age discovery of how to harness fire. After that, light was pretty much unchanged until the 18th century when one after another, brighter and brighter sources of light, from whale oil to kerosene to gaslight, changed the way humans related to the night. After detailing the history of how we harnessed electricity for lighting, Brox turns to our dependence on electricity and complete inability to function without it. A chapter on blackouts during World War II is especially interesting. She concludes with two chapters about the negative aspects of our brilliantly lit nights, including changes in our sleep patterns and artificial light's effects on animals. Highly recommended for those interested in how technology affects culture.
September 5, 2011
Interesting and comprehensive. It dragged in portions, loaded down with information, lumbering along. I learned a lot though. My favorite parts were the ancient times, the TVA electrification and the future of lighting. Some of it was familiar already- the disaster that lighting has caused among migratory birds, nesting turtles and astronomers- but the new information was fascinating.
January 19, 2012
I think I would have enjoyed an even longer version of the book --- this is the type of story that cries out for detail. I particularly enjoyed the coverage of the War of the Currents, the medieval and renaissance practices concerning watches and lights, and the discussions of 20th century blackouts, but pretty much all of it was a good read.
February 15, 2016
Fascinating, readable account of humankind's relationship with light. In the final chapter, titled "The Once and Future Light," Brox suggests that "we also need to think back to the past, to ask ourselves whether we are hampered more by brilliance than our ancestors ever were by the dark." A very good question.
June 5, 2019
Good:
* Has some interesting factoids about electricity.
Bad:
* No science, no organised history, it's just a collection of random US centric stories that are related to light.
* Has some interesting factoids about electricity.
Bad:
* No science, no organised history, it's just a collection of random US centric stories that are related to light.
July 14, 2021
This book addresses an undoubtedly fascinating concept, at least for me - it's an exploration of how we've made light, from fire to candles to gaslight to electric light. Super interesting, if a bit filled with random asides and poetic. It's more about how light makes us feel than any straightforward scientific history (though bits of that are in there). I dug it, but it won't be for everyone. We are obsessed with light!
The book moves chronologically through history in four parts, though doesn't spend equal time on each. Part one addresses Lascaux (prehistoric peoples) through gaslight. Part two kicks off with early electricity, including two whole chapters each on the Chicago World's Fair and Niagara Falls and how it powered long-distance electricity. Part three covers electricity becoming a business, and the fits and starts it took reaching various populations (like rural America) - even as some alternatives to incandescent light were discovered, and finishes with a chapter on when we lost the lights - WWII's blackout. The beginning of Part four picks up on that theme with the first major American blackout in 1965 and begins to cover the weaknesses of the grid and alternatives.
Brox zooms out and in at will, and honestly I liked her zoom-ins: when we got quotes from people who had to work by candle, or hearing from engineers at Niagara, or people caught in a blackout. She takes some serious detours sometimes - like a very thorough chapter on whaling in part one - and you think "how am I reading about this in a book about light?" but she always ties it back.
She has a point to make, and that it's that we're over-reliant on artificial light. If you don't like "message" books most of this in is part four - but maybe you should hear her out. I already knew about the International Dark-Sky Association, because I was lucky enough to live near one of these spaces for a while. But others would benefit from understanding what "light pollution" is and that we should do something about it (and that some people already are). Anyway the activism section - and current tech - is very likely out of date given this book was published in 2010? I definitely wondered what light technology updates I am missing as I read this in 2021.
As for my reading style: I read this in bits and pieces over a fairly long span of time, and found I could fairly easily pick it back up after having put it down. I appreciate books like this! Especially nonfiction.
This is a great book if you want to philosophize on a general topic and learn some interesting facts and stories connected to it while you're at it.
The book moves chronologically through history in four parts, though doesn't spend equal time on each. Part one addresses Lascaux (prehistoric peoples) through gaslight. Part two kicks off with early electricity, including two whole chapters each on the Chicago World's Fair and Niagara Falls and how it powered long-distance electricity. Part three covers electricity becoming a business, and the fits and starts it took reaching various populations (like rural America) - even as some alternatives to incandescent light were discovered, and finishes with a chapter on when we lost the lights - WWII's blackout. The beginning of Part four picks up on that theme with the first major American blackout in 1965 and begins to cover the weaknesses of the grid and alternatives.
Brox zooms out and in at will, and honestly I liked her zoom-ins: when we got quotes from people who had to work by candle, or hearing from engineers at Niagara, or people caught in a blackout. She takes some serious detours sometimes - like a very thorough chapter on whaling in part one - and you think "how am I reading about this in a book about light?" but she always ties it back.
She has a point to make, and that it's that we're over-reliant on artificial light. If you don't like "message" books most of this in is part four - but maybe you should hear her out. I already knew about the International Dark-Sky Association, because I was lucky enough to live near one of these spaces for a while. But others would benefit from understanding what "light pollution" is and that we should do something about it (and that some people already are). Anyway the activism section - and current tech - is very likely out of date given this book was published in 2010? I definitely wondered what light technology updates I am missing as I read this in 2021.
As for my reading style: I read this in bits and pieces over a fairly long span of time, and found I could fairly easily pick it back up after having put it down. I appreciate books like this! Especially nonfiction.
This is a great book if you want to philosophize on a general topic and learn some interesting facts and stories connected to it while you're at it.
August 28, 2021
Overall it was alright. I feel that far too much time was dedicated to telling the story of invention and development of electricity and the electric grid.
I don’t mind that she included this information on the whole, it helps round out the story. But too much space is dedicated to this and much of it repeated two or even three times while other interesting details were left out completely.
This book is about the development of lighting technology, not the electrical grid. My biggest gripe is the complete omission of portable light. How do you tell the story of modern artificial light without talking about portable forms of that light? Portable light is just as important as stationary. It would not have taken much space. A few paragraphs here and there about the invention of the first flashlight then maybe a few improvements through the decades, maybe mention early train lights then car lights? What made these lights possible away from the grid? A mention about the first headlamp? That’s a truly revolutionary invention right there!
Also, I was very disappointed that no mention of Mr. Coleman or his lanterns was made. She makes a single reference to the technology of mantle lamps and that’s it. I’m so surprised because Coleman is a household name. How do you miss mentioning someone so well known when writing a book about light technology? Granted he was no Edison, but his lamps were pivotal as a safer transition technology from old oil wick lamps to electricity, especially in rural areas. Plus, his lanterns literally made camping popular. Far fewer people would have ventured into the outdoors to try camping for the first time if they had not had such a reliable and bright light at night.
Well, aside from those two glaring omissions, it was a fun book overall if you enjoy history and technology. I would recommend.
I don’t mind that she included this information on the whole, it helps round out the story. But too much space is dedicated to this and much of it repeated two or even three times while other interesting details were left out completely.
This book is about the development of lighting technology, not the electrical grid. My biggest gripe is the complete omission of portable light. How do you tell the story of modern artificial light without talking about portable forms of that light? Portable light is just as important as stationary. It would not have taken much space. A few paragraphs here and there about the invention of the first flashlight then maybe a few improvements through the decades, maybe mention early train lights then car lights? What made these lights possible away from the grid? A mention about the first headlamp? That’s a truly revolutionary invention right there!
Also, I was very disappointed that no mention of Mr. Coleman or his lanterns was made. She makes a single reference to the technology of mantle lamps and that’s it. I’m so surprised because Coleman is a household name. How do you miss mentioning someone so well known when writing a book about light technology? Granted he was no Edison, but his lamps were pivotal as a safer transition technology from old oil wick lamps to electricity, especially in rural areas. Plus, his lanterns literally made camping popular. Far fewer people would have ventured into the outdoors to try camping for the first time if they had not had such a reliable and bright light at night.
Well, aside from those two glaring omissions, it was a fun book overall if you enjoy history and technology. I would recommend.
March 11, 2012
Jane Brox's book is an excellent and brief history of light as we have created it. It reads faster than its 300 pages, and is filled with snapshots of the fascinating men (alas, it's all men) who pushed forward the quality and demand for light. Argand, Fresnel, Faraday, Edison and Tesla all contribute to the steps forward in illumination.
This book is certainly not an exhaustive study, and is not meant to be. The people, science and advances are all given a couple of pages, or perhaps a chapter each. Much more in-depth books on Edison, the War of the Currents and the blackouts of 1965 and 1977 can be found. However, it is Brox's comfortable writing style that make this book a pleasure to read. She marries statistics with personal quotes, has a story-tellers gift for creating an environment in a few short phrases and makes special effort to always connect new technology back to social gains and costs. She spends a great deal of time focusing not on the wealthy, who always have first crack at new gas lights or the finest candle, but on the rural farmers, the black exclusion in the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, and the housewife. It is Brox's connection with the everyman over the famous names that make this book unique.
This book is certainly not an exhaustive study, and is not meant to be. The people, science and advances are all given a couple of pages, or perhaps a chapter each. Much more in-depth books on Edison, the War of the Currents and the blackouts of 1965 and 1977 can be found. However, it is Brox's comfortable writing style that make this book a pleasure to read. She marries statistics with personal quotes, has a story-tellers gift for creating an environment in a few short phrases and makes special effort to always connect new technology back to social gains and costs. She spends a great deal of time focusing not on the wealthy, who always have first crack at new gas lights or the finest candle, but on the rural farmers, the black exclusion in the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, and the housewife. It is Brox's connection with the everyman over the famous names that make this book unique.
July 4, 2011
It would NEVER have occurred to me to pick this up, but am I glad I did. Have you ever noticed how PANICKED people get when the lights go out? Brox has, and her points about how darkness was not as feared way back as it is now as well as concerns about the centralization of both the delivery of fuel (think gas works or electrical grids) and the loss of autonomy when such fuels were no longer available (or the delivery interrupted) was just fascinating. Light, as it happens, was for the wealthy because only the very wealthy could afford the high cost of good candles, the best whale oil, etc. Brox’s writing is both lyrical and incisive, and her concerns about how the ready availability of light has removed us from the natural world are spot on. There are several wonderful anecdotes here, but my favorite is centers on 1994′s Northridge Earthquake outside Los Angeles. Emergency lines were flooded with calls about a bizarre, glittery cloud splashed across the night sky. And what was it? The Milky Way, which city dwellers had/have never seen because of all that light pollution. Stories like that give you pause.
June 1, 2018
This book is how I imagine a great dissertation should be written. It is very well researched, and citations abound. However, Brox writes in a way that invites readers to keep turning the page. She almost seamlessly mixes statistics with personal observation and philosophical musing. Chapter by chapter, Brox peels back the layers of perhaps the most quotidian of things in our modern world: artificial light. What are the political, natural, economic, etc. consequences of light across the world and throughout history? Unsurprisingly, the book focuses on Europe and the USA, but there are thoughtful mentions of other parts of the world, and not simply as exotic examples of one thing or another. I think that this book could be consumed quickly or chapter by chapter over a longer period of time and still be really enjoyed. Highly recommended for curious readers!
October 25, 2010
I was reading this at the same time as "The Zookeeper's Wife", which took a fascinating story and turned it into an unreadable book. "Brilliant", by contrast, took a mundane subject and turned it into a fascinating book. My time reading it was filled with discovery and enlightenment. One of those books I borrowed to read but now want to own.
July 29, 2011
Overall, a good read -- Brox does a great job making the subject approachable, without getting bogged down in details. The later chapters, after electricity becomes widely available, do tend to go in a more general direction of power consumption, with lighting as a framework.
May 26, 2015
Brilliant explains the changes in how we light our world, how they were made those changes, amd the consequences of each way of lighting the world. In reading this book, I have realized how far we have yet to go to live in green ways.
October 23, 2017
p.27 There would always be something of the cold taste of order in public lighting.
p.97-8 Benjamin Franklin, one of the eighteenth century's most tireless 'electricians'--a phrase he coined and by which electrical experimenters were then known.
p.130 Not until the 1867 Paris Exposition did a world's fair stay open at night.
A fascinating and thorough look at a subject that most people, including this reader, take for granted: artificial light. One of the strengths of the novel is the depth and breadth of the historical information. The text presents the rise and fall of various forms of fuel as the material of the light source changes. As a fun sidelight in the text, the reader is presented with the thoughts and reflections of famous writers. Within the story are excerpts referencing light or the evolution of light from many classic writers, including Melville, Poe, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Robert Louis Stevenson.
The beam of the text lights up the work of Thomas Edison. In a rare instance, the text uses significant space to focus on the work of an individual. On the heels of the Edison information, the novel also delves deeply into the work and the rivalry with Tesla.
In the end of the work, the text takes an educational turn into some of the history of humans using bioluminescence. The history of humans applying bioluminscence to assist their vision at night and in caves is fascinating.
p.97-8 Benjamin Franklin, one of the eighteenth century's most tireless 'electricians'--a phrase he coined and by which electrical experimenters were then known.
p.130 Not until the 1867 Paris Exposition did a world's fair stay open at night.
A fascinating and thorough look at a subject that most people, including this reader, take for granted: artificial light. One of the strengths of the novel is the depth and breadth of the historical information. The text presents the rise and fall of various forms of fuel as the material of the light source changes. As a fun sidelight in the text, the reader is presented with the thoughts and reflections of famous writers. Within the story are excerpts referencing light or the evolution of light from many classic writers, including Melville, Poe, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Robert Louis Stevenson.
The beam of the text lights up the work of Thomas Edison. In a rare instance, the text uses significant space to focus on the work of an individual. On the heels of the Edison information, the novel also delves deeply into the work and the rivalry with Tesla.
In the end of the work, the text takes an educational turn into some of the history of humans using bioluminescence. The history of humans applying bioluminscence to assist their vision at night and in caves is fascinating.
November 8, 2021
I was expecting a more technical/scientific/economic overview of how artificial lighting has advanced from primitive oil lamps to LEDs, but this instead a much broader look at how artificial light has changed the pattern of life. There is for example no mention of Nordhaus' 1994 paper on the evolution of cost-per-lumen since paleolithic times. Nor is there any mention of the theoretical limits of luminous efficacy. The fact that the book was published before the advent of cost-effective broad-spectrum white LEDs is not an excuse, as the theory was understood well before the practical advances.
The chapter on fluorescent tubes focuses more on the architectural aspects than the quality of light, without any mention of colour rendering index or multi-phosphor coatings.
The focus is relentlessly American, with little or no consideration for inventions elsewhere. Even Swan's early light bulb is only mentioned in passing, before spending pages and pages on Edisons laboratory.
The writing style is rather varied, and sometimes verges on the poetical, which almost (but not quite) makes up for the lacking details.
The chapter on fluorescent tubes focuses more on the architectural aspects than the quality of light, without any mention of colour rendering index or multi-phosphor coatings.
The focus is relentlessly American, with little or no consideration for inventions elsewhere. Even Swan's early light bulb is only mentioned in passing, before spending pages and pages on Edisons laboratory.
The writing style is rather varied, and sometimes verges on the poetical, which almost (but not quite) makes up for the lacking details.
Read
December 29, 2022I liked this one but not as much as I thought I would. Usually books that deep dive into the history and mechanics of something I take for granted really hit the spot. This one was a little lack luster and to be candid I think it was the writing style.
But I did learn some cool things.
We all think of the age of the internet or the computing revolution or the industrial revolution when we think about moments of extreme growth in productivity and life changing technology. But the truth is light was like that too.
Light was very expensive at first - once the sun went down pretty much everyone gave up on productive work. Then we had technology that made it a bit cheaper and a lot brighter - that gave us the option to do more indoors, do more later, and do more detailed work you need sharp eyes to accomplish. And now we've reached an age where the only time I think about a lightbulb is when I am swapping one out to work with Alexa, or showing off a throwback Edison bulb in a new light fixture.
I came away from this one with les hubris about how dramatically tech has changed my generation and with more respect for lighting and electricity
But I did learn some cool things.
We all think of the age of the internet or the computing revolution or the industrial revolution when we think about moments of extreme growth in productivity and life changing technology. But the truth is light was like that too.
Light was very expensive at first - once the sun went down pretty much everyone gave up on productive work. Then we had technology that made it a bit cheaper and a lot brighter - that gave us the option to do more indoors, do more later, and do more detailed work you need sharp eyes to accomplish. And now we've reached an age where the only time I think about a lightbulb is when I am swapping one out to work with Alexa, or showing off a throwback Edison bulb in a new light fixture.
I came away from this one with les hubris about how dramatically tech has changed my generation and with more respect for lighting and electricity
November 27, 2021
Clearly, the author did extensive research, and fit all of it in. There’s one problem- including all research means there is often meandering to secondary topics, leading to a lack of focus, lack of editing.
Another issue which was consistently frustrating to me is the complete lack of images to accompany the text. There are no illustrations or photographs to help describe and compare the many, many complex objects and scenes she describes in words. Not even reproductions of the various identified paintings and photographs. I can only suggest that, should there be an updated edition in the future, images be included.
Another issue which was consistently frustrating to me is the complete lack of images to accompany the text. There are no illustrations or photographs to help describe and compare the many, many complex objects and scenes she describes in words. Not even reproductions of the various identified paintings and photographs. I can only suggest that, should there be an updated edition in the future, images be included.
May 7, 2023
Soup to nuts: bear grease in a concave shaped rock, all the way to LED bulbs and soft houses with fabric lighting panels. Bit of a slow start, but was quite comprehensive in coverage of the topic. One thing towards the end: the author states that the developed world has too much light, which negatively impacts astronomy, migration patterns of animals and birds, human circadian rhythms. The following chapter states how the developing world needs more light so kids can study at night, economies can improve, etc. Aren't these conflicting opinions?
May 23, 2025
I'm glad I borrowed the audiobook because while this is a trove of information on the history of light, touching on the history of electrification (which is relevant to the industry in which I work), it is thorough and I know I wouldn't have the attention nor the stamina to visually read this book.
I like the way it was read as well. The reader/narrator presented the text clearly and in a way that would not seem boring, though I will admit my attention was elsewhere at times. Still, it's an interesting history and I'm glad I can finally check this off my to-read list.
I like the way it was read as well. The reader/narrator presented the text clearly and in a way that would not seem boring, though I will admit my attention was elsewhere at times. Still, it's an interesting history and I'm glad I can finally check this off my to-read list.
July 21, 2019
My edition not listed. ISBN 9781684416011
This is a very insightful book about the advances in lighting and how it affected human lives in a practical way. The author points out how and why it affected different classes in different ways, how it changed their behavior. She also brings in other concurrent developments like improvements in the technology of making glass, explaining the advent of window shopping.
This is a very insightful book about the advances in lighting and how it affected human lives in a practical way. The author points out how and why it affected different classes in different ways, how it changed their behavior. She also brings in other concurrent developments like improvements in the technology of making glass, explaining the advent of window shopping.
April 5, 2019
Informative little book starting with cave dwellers early illumination to our modern power grid. It points out our dependence on electricity to the point that we would be paralyzed without it. The book was written before we worried about terrorist hacking of the power grid, but it brought you right up to that as a forewarning for the future.
March 1, 2020
This is the fourth book I've read about light & darkness, and the oldest. The historical parts are still relevant but the last few chapters are out of date- it's from 2010 and she discusses the 'coming ban' on incandescent light bulbs and devotes almost no space to LEDs. There was a lot of overlap in the sections discussing Edison with the last book I read on the topic. This was a very dry read.
October 3, 2024
This was an interesting read and we had a good discussion in book group, with the author present. Pretty amazing what a miracle electricity and light are, amazing to think my grandparents lived in the darker days. The author presented many stories from times and places which made the book very readable.
August 1, 2017
A very interesting book. I think it could have used a bit more editing. Some times it read like a science textbook, but overall I think it portrayed how artificial light has evolved over the centuries in an interesting and informative way.
January 31, 2020
Really important and overlooked topic. A great piece of historical nonfiction in which I learned a few things I did not previously know about American history. Well-researched, has citations and index.
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