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Cheap light transformed civilization

During the industrial era the cost of artificial light fell off a cliff — and the road to illumination was paved with genius and slaughter.

If you were poor in the early 19th century, you usually had three choices: burn tallow candles made from slowly putrefying, rendered animal fat, huddle next to an open fire, or sit in the dark (perhaps the most common option of all). Kerosene squeezed from coal helped to drive the cost of light dramatically and, when paired with new lamp technology, provided a bright, odor-free, non-perishable, and inexpensive flame, all features that were not an innate property of whale oil. It is tempting to dismiss the production and use of kerosene as a chemical footnote in the story of human progress; however, countless late nights were spent drafting bridges, ships, experiments, books, buildings, and business contracts by its light.

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