Stuart Nathan

January 1880: Edison's electric light

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A certain formality is often the hallmark of articles in the Victorian editions of The Engineer; but in the case of the now-celebrated American inventor Thomas Alva Edison, that formality gives way to a finely-honed scorn.

Edison, along with many others, had for some years been trying to develop a practical electric light, and our predecessors were reacting to a report in the New York Herald that he had finally succeeded. It's fair to say that they were not persuaded.

The article is headed "Mr Edison’s latest electric light" and you can almost hear the weariness in the word "latest". It starts by recalling a Charles Dickens character, who when asked their opinion of another replies that "I don't believe there is such a person". The Engineer notes that when it comes to the description of Edison by the New York Herald, it does not believe that such a person exists, and adds that it is surprised that Edison allows the claims attributed to him to be published. "We refuse to believe the latter gentleman [Edison] can hold himself responsible for the sayings and doings of his prototype", it says.

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