Light Sources

The creation of fire is known as one of humankind’s first and most important steps towards where we are today. Thanks to the light sources we are not dependent to sunlight and have the freedom to continue living our lives after the sun goes down. Since men discovered fire, they never stopped improving the light sources which are major elements in our daily lives. There have been many revolutionary steps in the lighting sources throughout history till lighting we have today. Today we have a huge range of lighting options. It’s interesting to see how it all started with the creation of fire and improved till the maximum use of electricity as if that would be the best thing. And today, we are trying to find ways to make more use of sunlight and less use of electricity. And the light sources are designed to conserve energy and to be longer lasting. Moreover, as the technology advances, the light sources are becoming thinner smaller and pushing the limits we know as what "light could be". In the old days they probably couldn't have imagined having a light bulb and electricity and after that no one would believe that such a light source as thin as a film and is flexible would be created. All the steps the light sources took in history are revolutionary and I can't wait to find out what kind of a revolutionary light source is next..

1.8 Million years ago - Fire


The use of fire for light has been an important step for us. Before the discovery of fire, after the sun went down, with no light around, people had no choice but sleep until the sun was up again. Campfire gave people the freedom to extend the day’s activities past daylight. The problem was that it still limited people because it was not portable. Evidence of fire exists from up to 1.8 million years ago.


3000 BC – Candles

The first candles were used by Egyptians as early as 3000 BC. Unlike campfire, candles are portable. Around the first century Romans used candles made out of tallow and the pith of rushes. Paraffin was introduced in 1830 and it was revolutionary because it was an inexpensive material that produced high-quality, odorless candles. Candles are still used, not in everyday life but for creating moods in environments for celebration, romance etc. because they continuously cast a warm glow.





1879 – Incandescent Light
In 1879, Thomas Edison introduced the incandescent light bulb in the form we have today. This is the first electric lamp, and probably is the most frequently used lighting source in today’s world. These incandescent light bulbs work by using electricity and a filament. The first light bulb by Edison lasted 40 hours while the ones we use now last up to 60.000 hours and use magnetic induction.






1901 – Fluorescent Light

In 1901, the first fluorescent light was introduced by Peter Cooper Hewitt. These fluorescent lights were electric lamps which created light by exciting mercury vapor. The first practical and viable fluorescent lamp was first sold in 1938. Of course, it has been developed till today and also, a lot of other varieties of light sources such as halogen and LED lights have been introduced too. Compared to incandescent lighting, fluorescent lights are energy-efficient and they last a lot longer.


2008 - OLED
OLEDs (organic light-emitting diode) are made of thin films of organic molecules which create light with electricity. They consume significantly less power than all the other light sources available. OLED was introduced as a light source this year in a light fair as a lamp by Ingo Maurer. In the near future OLEDs will be flexible and transparent light sources which could even be placed over windows so at nights the light would illuminate all over the room.