The Electric Fairy

Electricity, like many other modern scientific discoveries, is not only due to of the genius of an inventor, but is the result of the research and efforts of many that, over the years, often even decades, were developed by many supporting characters; inventors that history doesn’t give enough recognition, in contrast to those more fortunate to whom all the merit is attributed.

The biography of Thomas Alva Edison describes thusly the event that became the simple of progress for the new century: “The lightbulb was born heroically that night, and between one and two in the afternoon on Thursday, October 20th 1879, it has reached 40 hours of life.” In reality, filament lightbulb theory had already been proven in 1845 in London by Edward Staite, and only one year prior, in 1878, Joseph Swan had built a model. In the end it is Edison who is considered “the inventor” in all respects.

Many years would pass before the extraordinary nature of this invention would be felt, and above all seen!
For architects, engineers, artists, and manufacturers, the invention of the incandescent lightbulb was a true revolution, a completely new way of looking at light and the objects that create it.
Just as Edision had beautifully taken care of the technical aspect, the simple models of the electirc lamps, often converted from gas lamps, soon gave way to creations that showed off the potential and impact of artificial light.

Lighting underwent, over the course of the century, changes due to historic moents that reflected the artistic movements and styles in vogue, and it became part of the history of mankind and his nature.