A record of the human struggle to bring the light of day into the darkness of night. Dr Arthur Bryant traces the early history of lighting from the open fire to the candle lit by tinder or flint. Professor Andrade continues the story, recalling the early association of the Royal Institution with many of the inventions of the 19th century, describing in turn the gas lamp, the oil lamp, the electric arc, the carbon filament lamp, the gas mantle and the fluorescent tube. The film concludes with examples of the many important everyday activities that artificial lighting has made possible.
Content notification
Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.
Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.
How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
322401
Language
English
Subject categories
Documentary → Documentary films - Great Britain
Educational & Instructional → Educational films
History → Electric lamps, incandescent
Mathematics, Science & Technology → Discoveries (in science)
Mathematics, Science & Technology → Electric lamps, incandescent
Mathematics, Science & Technology → Electric power
Mathematics, Science & Technology → Inventions
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)