Relationship between Science and Application in the 1 Million Year History of Artificial Lighting

Applications sometimes occur in advance of the underlying scientific understanding, sometimes they proceed in tandem, and in some cases the applications are inspired by the science. The 1 million year history of artificial lighting provides excellent examples of all three cases, although the tandem development is arguably the most common. Examples are drawn from controlled fire, early oil lamps and candles, gas lighting, traditional electric lighting (incandescent, high-intensity discharge, and fluorescent), lasers, and light emitting diodes (LEDs). Controlled fire has been in use since before our ancestral homo sapiens evolved. Some fire application advances occurred in tandem with early science, but the role of oxygen was not known until the 18^th century. The seeds of traditional electric lighting were planted by science in the early 19^th century, but the key applications and the underlying science advanced in tandem during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Development of the more recent laser and the LED were inspired by the underlying 20^th century science, with application advances occurring in tandem with refinement of the science. Through this history the science has become more recognizably mature, and its application has continued to require engineering methods.