From the dialogues of the ancient Greek philosophers right up through the physical laws of Newton, the experiments of Thomas Young and the quantum physics pioneers, the study of light was all about observing its characteristics and defining its behavior. At the end of the 19 th century, wicks, wax, and oil gave way to electricity, filaments, and gases, and scientific minds began to focus on the technological creation of light, as well as its control and diverse uses. Yet, despite more than a century of profound research and development, until now, the most complete resources on lighting technology have always been compiled by and subject to the biases of commercial lighting companies.
