City Lights
()
About this ebook
Read more from Victoria Charles
The ultimate book on Picasso Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51000 Watercolours of Genius Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pablo Picasso Masterworks - Volume 2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) - Volume 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Renaissance Paintings Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNeoclassicism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEgyptian art Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/51000 Erotic Works of Genius Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pablo Picasso and artworks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dada Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In Praise of Hands Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlphonse Mucha Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vincent van Gogh by Vincent van Gogh - Volume 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRenaissance Art Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Gothic Art Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/51000 Paintings of Genius Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Vincent Van Gogh Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/51000 Drawings of Genius Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to City Lights
Related ebooks
Time Out New York Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA New York City Adventure Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWith the World's Great Travellers, Volume IV Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsParis Island Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCity Squares: Eighteen Writers on the Spirit and Significance of Squares Around the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hannover: Englisch Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrommer's EasyGuide to New York City 2019 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBroadway Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frommer's EasyGuide to New York City 2020 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrommer's EasyGuide to New York City 2018 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings100 Tokyo Sights: Discover Tokyo's Hidden Gems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLost New York Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Walking Tour of New York City's Upper West Side Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grand Central Terminal: 100 Years of a New York Landmark Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lighthouses Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Transporter Bridges: An Illustrated History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings101 Amazing Facts About Paris Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMontreal's Expo 67 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrommer's EasyGuide to New York City 2017 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Walking Tour of New York City Midtown Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsModern London: An Illustrated Cityscape from the 1920s to the Present Day Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSay Hi to Eiffel! Places to Go in France - Geography for Kids | Children's Explore the World Books Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLondon Rules: So Get Over It Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNotre-Dame: The Soul of France Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5101 Amazing Facts About New York Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLook Up, San Francisco! A Walking Tour of the Civic Center Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArchitectural Flourishes: Paris, France Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHistoric Paris Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFallen Glory: The Lives and Deaths of Twenty Lost Buildings from the Tower of Babel to the Twin Towers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsParis A World Heritage Site Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Architecture For You
Architectural Digest at 100: A Century of Style Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Architecture 101: From Frank Gehry to Ziggurats, an Essential Guide to Building Styles and Materials Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5House Beautiful: Colors for Your Home: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing Paint Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBecome An Exceptional Designer: Effective Colour Selection For You And Your Client Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Little Book of Living Small Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Build Shipping Container Homes With Plans Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Feng Shui Modern Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Live Beautiful Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Martha Stewart's Organizing: The Manual for Bringing Order to Your Life, Home & Routines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Atomic Ranch: Design Ideas for Stylish Ranch Homes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Fix Absolutely Anything: A Homeowner's Guide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Down to Earth: Laid-back Interiors for Modern Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Year-Round Solar Greenhouse: How to Design and Build a Net-Zero Energy Greenhouse Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Building Natural Ponds: Create a Clean, Algae-free Pond without Pumps, Filters, or Chemicals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cozy Minimalist Home: More Style, Less Stuff Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The New Bohemians Handbook: Come Home to Good Vibes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Disney's Land: Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park That Changed the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Chicago World's Fair of 1893: A Photographic Record Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Making Midcentury Modern Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Welcome Home: A Cozy Minimalist Guide to Decorating and Hosting All Year Round Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Giza Power Plant: Technologies of Ancient Egypt Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Decorate: 1,000 Professional Design Ideas for Every Room in Your Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How Paris Became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Home Sweet Maison: The French Art of Making a Home Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The New Bohemians: Cool & Collected Homes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life: How to Use Feng Shui to Get Love, Money, Respect and Happiness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frommer's Athens and the Greek Islands Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related categories
Reviews for City Lights
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
City Lights - Victoria Charles
INDEX
Business Centre, Moscow, Russia.
INTRODUCTION
Although the deliberate harnessing of light began in ancient times, as demonstrated by countless remnants of torches or other oil lamps found at historic sites, public lighting long remained essentially non-existent, except during feasts and festivals. It was not until the 15th century that people began to hang lights in their homes; however, maintenance of such lamps was the responsibility of the home-owner, and any neglect on his part would plunge the narrow streets into darkness. At this time, the candles that filled the lanterns gave off but little light, so when the first streetlamps with reflective mirrors were installed in 1771, the improved illumination was remarkable. In 1785, Swiss physicist Aimé Argand perfected a lamp, known as the Argand lamp, which improved the quality of lighting that had formerly been weak and irregular.
While the oil lamp continued to undergo enhancements with various inventions, particularly those of Antoine-Arnault Quinquet and Ambroise Bonnaventure Lange, gas lighting was experiencing its beginnings in Europe in the early 19th century (China had already been using it for a long time), thanks to the discovery in 1792 of a method for distilling coal by Scottish engineer William Murdoch and French inventor Jean-Pierre Minckelers.
The kerosene lamp enjoyed immense success in the 1860s as a result of numerous oilfields in the United States. However the spreading use of electricity, which had been encouraged by the experiments and discoveries of Humphry Davy in England and Léon Foucault in France, but most particularly those of Russia’s Paul Jablochkoff, an engineer who invented an electric candle in the late 1870s, signified a veritable revolution. In 1879, Thomas Edison finalised an incandescent lamp that found its way to Europe in 1882. That same year, Edison invented the first electric telephone exchange, which ran an electric current throughout Wall Street, confirming his status as the founding father of modern electricity.
If public lighting originally permitted people to orient themselves first and foremost, its most valued quality, perhaps, was its related role in promoting public security by casting light on shadowed, disturbing streets.
In addition to serving as a reliable public utility, urban lighting offered new liberty to populations, who no longer had to set their life’s rhythms according to the sun’s movements. From this point on, a nocturnal social life flourished and numerous nighttime entertainment venues began to emerge.
Today, light is no longer restricted to purely utilitarian service. Not only is it used as an essential element in billboard advertisements – notable examples include the massive, lighted ads of Picadilly Circus, Broadway or Times Square – but in connection with architecture, illumination can become a veritable artistic medium. Many cities now organise sound and light shows, where engineers and designers try to outdo each other in terms of inventiveness to produce dazzling spectacles. Bridges, skyscrapers and other monuments are now liberated from cold and the night sky, rising draped in light as powerful celebrations of electricity.
AFRICA
Aswan after sunset – view over the