Von Welsbach, Carl Auer
Von Welsbach, Carl Auer
Environmental History
Carl Auer Von Welsbach (1858-1929) was an Austrian chemist and engineer who discovered two rare earth elements, which lead him to invent the incandescent gas mantle. He discovered that a rare earth element, cerium, added as its nitrate salt to a cylindrical fabric impregnated with thorium nitrate, produced a fragile mantle that glowed with white incandescence when heated in a gas flame (patented 1885). This discovery greatly improved the effectiveness of modern liquid fuel lighting. The Welsbach mantle is now used in outdoor and camp lamps. He also developed the metal filament light bulb (1898) that was an improvement on the existing carbon filament designs, lasting much longer and using about 1/2 the electricity for the same amount of light. He also invented what is today known as a "flint"(1903) that remains in wide use in cigarette lighters today.
Further Readings
Auer von Welsbach-Biography (Auer von Welsbach Museum)
Citation
Cutler Cleveland (Lead Author);Peter Saundry (Topic Editor) "Von Welsbach, Carl Auer". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth August 18, 2006; Last revised Date August 18, 2006; Retrieved February 6, 2012 <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Von_Welsbach,_Carl_Auer>
The Author
Editor-in-Chief
The Encyclopedia of Earth Cutler J. Cleveland is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Earth. Dr. Cleveland is currently a Professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at Boston University, with joint appointments in the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies and the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer Range Future. He also is a Senior Fellow at the National Council for Science and the Environment in Washington D.C. Dr. Cleveland is als ... (Full Bio)
Contact Us
Send to a Friend
Comments
There are no comments.