Thanks for the link, the article has got me intrigued about a certain local historical conundrum.
From Wikipedia
In 1835 James Bowman Lindsay demonstrated a constant electric light at a public meeting in Dundee, Scotland. He stated that he could "read a book at a distance of one and a half feet". However, having perfected the device to his own satisfaction, he turned to the problem of wireless telegraphy and did not develop the electric light any further. His claims are not well documented.
Dundee was a major whaling centre during the 19th Century producing whaling ships for the industry. Famously these ships were used in the Antarctic expeditions of Shackleton and Scott such as RSS Discovery and Terra Nova.
I’m beginning to suspect Mr Linday may have had a visit from certain representatives of those in the Whale Oil industry to enquire about the silliness of this new form of electric light as there were plenty more whales in the ocean in 1835 still to pursue. Perhaps he was convinced to move on to more personal profitable inventions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_whalingThe discovery of petroluem oil production didn't stop whaling. It just became uneconomic to pursue whales in dead fisheries.
Previous Topic
Index
