The Bulb That Lit the 20th Century
One thousand hours of life, ten to seventeen lumens per watt, and a hoarding panic that pushed German bulb sales up 150% before the EU ban. This episode traces the full arc of electric lighting: incandescent, halogen, compact fluorescent, and the semiconductor junction that changed everything. Along the way: why the filament sat frozen in place for sixty years, why CFLs failed culturally despite hitting their efficiency targets, and how three researchers finally got gallium nitride to produce usable blue light — the missing piece that made white LEDs possible. We also cover the regulatory…
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