The glowing light bulb discovered by accident in 1675
The glowing light bulb discovered by accident in 1675 Ellsworth Toohey 7:00 am Thu Jul 23, 2026 barometric light — Alchemist-hp / CC BY-SA 2.0 DE (Wikimedia Commons) Long before Edison, a working light source turned up by accident. In 1675, the French astronomer Jean Picard noticed that the mercury in his barometer glowed as he carried it across a dark room. The faint light, later called "barometric light," drew the interest of some of the era's biggest scientific names before the trick faded into obscurity.
- ▪The glowing light bulb discovered by accident in 1675 Ellsworth Toohey 7:00 am Thu Jul 23, 2026 barometric light — Alchemist-hp / CC BY-SA 2.0 DE (Wikimedia Commons) Long before Edison, a working light source turned up by accident.
- ▪In 1675, the French astronomer Jean Picard noticed that the mercury in his barometer glowed as he carried it across a dark room.
- ▪The faint light, later called "barometric light," drew the interest of some of the era's biggest scientific names before the trick faded into obscurity.
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The glowing light bulb discovered by accident in 1675 Ellsworth Toohey 7:00 am Thu Jul 23, 2026 barometric light — Alchemist-hp / CC BY-SA 2.0 DE (Wikimedia Commons) Long before Edison, a working light source turned up by accident. In 1675, the French astronomer Jean Picard noticed that the mercury in his barometer glowed as he carried it across a dark room. The faint light, later called "barometric light," drew the interest of some of the era's biggest scientific names before the trick faded into obscurity. In a recent video, the YouTuber styropyro (Drake Anthony) rebuilt it. He sealed a little mercury inside an evacuated glass flask, and shaking it made the metal give off a ghostly glow.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Boing Boing.
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