Judging

Differences

Similarities

Joseph W. swan. interview

N.O: Hello I would like to start off by introducing myself, my name is nick, and you are?

Joseph: Hello my name is Joseph W. Swan, from Bishopwearmouth England my dear boy!

N.O: Okay can you just give me a little insight in what you do or have done?

Joseph: I am a Chemist, where I experiment with carbon filaments between the 1850’s and 60’s. Sir Thomas Edison was not the only inventor trying to invent a light bulb as you can see. I was one of his main competitors.

N.O: Okay. I heard you and Edison even worked together, Is this true? Mistake me if I’m wrong.

Joseph: Why yes. Yes we have, we shared ideas on similar topics.

N.O: In what year did you create the Incandescent Light Bulb? And how is it different from Thomas Edison’s light bulb?

Joseph: Thomas Edison created his in 1802, my Incandescent light bulb was presented in 1878 to the New Castle Society.

N.O: It almost seems like (outside of Great Britain) you are not credited for the creation of the light bulb. Why do you think this is?

Joseph: Like other inventors I used a carbon rod with a low electrical resistance in my lamp. Due to the relationship between resistance and current, a low resistance element, my carbon rod gave off light but did not last very long.

N.O: Did you and Edison ever collaborate in any other way?

Joseph: (cough! Cough!) well you see my dear boy! In America Edison had been working on copies of the original light bulb patented by me, trying to make them more electrical. He started a campaign stating he was the real inventor.

N.O: How did you feel about Edison’s campaign?

Joseph: I agreed Edison could sell the lights in America, while I retained rights in Britain.

N.O: Wow that’s amazing, Okay so we know about some of the awards Edison got: like the French legion of Honor, in 1881  Grand officer of the Crown in 1889. What are some of your achievements?

Joseph: Okay dear boy, Let me refresh my memory. In 1904 I was given Kighthood by king Edward Vll. In 1894 I was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, And I was  also given the Royal Society Hughes Medal.                                               obrien, nikolas. "lighting Revolution:joseph swan." americanhistory. americanhistory.com, 3/25/2011. Web. 25 Mar 2011. <http://americanhistory.si.edu/lighting/bios/swan.htm>      obrien, nikolas. "joseph swan." en.wikipedia.org. wikipedia, 3/25/2011. Web. 25 Mar 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Swan>.                      

I was a chemist, physicist, and inventor, who is most famous for my important role in the development of electric lighting. I was born in Sunderland, England on October 31, 1828 to John and Isabella Swan. A particularly inquisitive child interested in creative endeavors, I began an apprenticeship with a pharmacist when I was 13. Afterwards, I began as an assistant in a firm of manufacturing chemists, in which I worked my way up, eventually becoming a partner.

obrien, nikolas. "molecular expressions." micro.magnet. micro.magnet, 3/25/2011. Web. 25 Mar 2011. <http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/timeline/people/swan.html>.

Edison was not the only inventor trying to make a light bulb. One of his major competitors was me.a chemist, I experimented in the 1850s and 60s with carbon filaments. My early efforts failed however, because the vacuum pumps of those years could not remove enough air from the lamps. By the mid-1870s better pumps became available, and I returned to My experiments.

obrien, nikolas. "lighting Revolution:joseph swan." americanhistory. americanhistory.com, 3/25/2011. Web. 25 Mar 2011. <http://americanhistory.si.edu/lighting/bios/swan.htm>.

Like other early inventors, I used a carbon rod with low electrical resistance in My lamp. Due to the relationship between resistance and current, a low resistance element required lots of current in order to become hot and glow. This meant that the conductors bringing electricity to the lamp would have to be relatively short (or impossibly thick), acceptable for an experiment or demonstration, but not for a commercial electrical system.

obrien, nikolas. "lighting Revolution:joseph swan." americanhistory. americanhistory.com, 3/25/2011. Web. 25 Mar 2011. <http://americanhistory.si.edu/lighting/bios/swan.htm>.