Henry woodward biography light bulb
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Henry Woodward (inventor)
Henry Woodward was a Canadian inventor and a major pioneer in the development of the incandescent lamp.[1] He was born in
On July 24, , Woodward and his partner, Mathew Evans, a hotel keeper, filed a Canadian patent application on an electric light bulb.[2][3] It was granted on August 3, , as Canadian patent number 3,[4] Woodward was a medical student at the time. Their light bulb comprised a glass tube with a large piece of carbon connected to two wires. They filled the tube with inert nitrogen to get a longer burn life in the filament.[1] Their light bulb was fully effective and sufficiently promising; they sold their U.S. patent , to Thomas Edison and due to this Edison is now known for the invention of the light bulb. Thomas Edison obtained an exclusive license to the Canadian patent. Thomas Edison developed his own design of incandescent lamp with a high resistance thin filament of carbon in a high vacuum contained in a tightly sealed glass bulb which had a sufficiently long service life to be commercially practical.[1]
The relationship of the Woodward/Evans work on the incandescent bulb to that of others, including Edison, on electric light is explained in the following passag
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Who Invented the Light Bulb?
Most people think that Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, but they would be wrong. In , Thomas Edison purchased half of a patent. The patent was owned by a Toronto medical electrician. Edison wanted this to further his own research. The researcher who invented the light bulb was James Woodward. Woodward and a colleague by the name of Mathew Evans, filed a patent for the: Woodward and Evan&#;s Light on July 24, Evans was described in the patent as a &#;Gentleman&#;, but he was a hotel keeper. So this is the story of who invented the light bulb.
Working at Morrison&#;s Brass Foundry on Adelaide Street in Toronto, they built the first lamp with a shaped rod of carbon. The rod was held between electrodes in a glass bulb filled with nitrogen.
Woodward and Evans were treated as quakes and subjected to much public ridicule. &#;Who needs a glowing piece of metal?&#; They attempted, with very little success, to form a company to raise money to refine and market their invention.
In , Woodward obtained a U.S. patent on his electric lamp. In Thomas Edison considered it important enough to completely buy out the patent from Woodward, Evans, and all their Canadian partners. Similar to what we would do today to avoid equipment leasing issues
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