Chapter 18

The Incandescent Light Bulb Invented by Thomas Edison in 1878 Provided a cheap, inefficient means of indoor lighting Used a vacuum and tungsten wire to prevent the filament from burning when an electric current passed through it Edison also devised a system of power generation and distribution improved dynamo and parallel circuit of wires provided electricity conveniently to a large number of customers Edison acted as his own publicist in 1880 at Christmas Edison illuminated Menlo Park with 40 incandescent bulbs in 1882 he built a power plant that could light 85 buildings in Wall Street Led to a boom in the electrical industry The Theory of Scientific Management attempted to increase production by timing workers? tasks and suggest ways to speed up their performance