Daniel McFarlan Moore
Encyclopedia
Daniel McFarlan Moore was a U.S. electrical engineer and inventor. He developed a novel light source, the "Moore lamp", and a business that produced them in the early 1900s. The Moore lamp was the first commercially viable light-source based on gas discharges instead of incandescence; it was the predecessor to contemporary neon lighting
and fluorescent lighting. In his later career Moore developed a miniature neon lamp that was extensively used in electronic displays, as well as vacuum tubes that were used in early television systems.
on February 27, 1869. Moore was the son of the Reverend Alexander Davis and Maria Louisa Douglas Moore. He graduated from Lehigh University
in 1889. Moore married Mary Alice Elliott, of New York City, on June 5, 1895. They had three children: Dorothy Mae Moore, (born 1900); Elliott McFarlan Moore (1902–1933); and Beatrice Jean Moore, (born 1912).
had first developed in the 1850s. "What’s wrong with my light?" Thomas Edison
is said to have asked when he learned that Moore had started to tinker with light-producing tubes of gas as a potential replacement for the incandescent bulb. Moore is reported to have replied undiplomatically, "It’s too small, too hot and too red." Moore left in 1894 to form his own companies, the Moore Electric Company and the Moore Light Company.
Moore had devised his glow discharge lighting system by 1896. The Moore Lamp was an extension of the well-known Geissler tube
, which used glass tubes from which the air had been removed and a different gas inserted. The low-pressure gas glows when a current was passed through it. As described in 1915, "In the Moore system of lighting the essential feature is the introduction of a special valve which automatically admits gas into the tube as the supply becomes exhausted." The Moore lamps utilized nitrogen or carbon dioxide as the luminous gas; Moore's innovation compensated for the gradual loss of gas in the lamp to the electrodes and the glass. Carbon dioxide gave a good quality white light. The first commercial installation was done in 1904 in a hardware store in Newark, New Jersey. The lamp yielded about 10 lumens per watt, which was about triple the output of incandescent lights based on carbon filaments. Arthur Bright has written, "Despite the fact that the tube was expensive to install, complicated, and required very high voltages, its operating advantages were great enough for it to find restricted use in stores, offices, and similar general lighting uses as well as in photography and some advertising and decorative applications."
The modest success of the Moore tubes was among the drivers for developing better filaments for standard incandescent light bulbs. Tungsten filament bulbs were a sufficient improvement over carbon filaments that the Moore tubes "graduallly disappeared from the market, leaving only short carbon-dioxide tubes in use for color matching, in which they excelled because of their daylight color. The General Electric Company absorbed the two Moore companies and Moore's patents in 1912. Moore himself rejoined General Electric's laboratory force."
Moore's inventions at General Electric included a miniature neon lamp
that remained a fixture in electronic displays throughout the 20th Century, and was a forerunner of plasma displays. Both the lamp and his further inventions were also important to the early development of television. In particular, around 1917 Moore developed a "negative glow" neon lamp. These were miniature lamps with a very different design than the much larger neon tubes used for neon lighting
; a Smithsonian Institution website notes, "These small, low power devices use a physical principle called "coronal discharge." Moore mounted two electrodes close together in a bulb and added neon or argon gas. The electrodes would glow brightly in red or blue, depending on the gas, and the lamps lasted for years. Since the electrodes could take almost any shape imaginable, a popular application has been fanciful decorative lamps
. Glow lamps found practical use as indicators in instrument panels and in many home appliances until the acceptance of Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) in the 1970s." In 1924 he invented the vacuum bulbs used in telephotography, and in 1925 improved it for use in television.
Moore was awarded the John Scott Medal of The Franklin Institute in 1911.
, by an unemployed inventor who became enraged after finding that an invention he filed for, was already the subject of a patent granted to Moore.
Neon lighting
Neon lighting is created by brightly glowing, electrified glass tubes or bulbs that contain rarefied neon or other gases. Georges Claude, a French engineer and inventor, presented neon tube lighting in essentially its modern form at the Paris Motor Show from December 3–18, 1910...
and fluorescent lighting. In his later career Moore developed a miniature neon lamp that was extensively used in electronic displays, as well as vacuum tubes that were used in early television systems.
Early life
He was born in Northumberland, PennsylvaniaNorthumberland, Pennsylvania
Northumberland is a borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,714 at the 2000 census.-History:Northumberland was founded in 1772. The land that became Northumberland was purchased from the Iroquois in the first Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1768, and the...
on February 27, 1869. Moore was the son of the Reverend Alexander Davis and Maria Louisa Douglas Moore. He graduated from Lehigh University
Lehigh University
Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...
in 1889. Moore married Mary Alice Elliott, of New York City, on June 5, 1895. They had three children: Dorothy Mae Moore, (born 1900); Elliott McFarlan Moore (1902–1933); and Beatrice Jean Moore, (born 1912).
Career
He began his career in 1890 working in the engineering department of the United Edison Manufacturing Company. At some point he started experimenting with producing light from glow discharges, which Heinrich GeisslerHeinrich Geissler
Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Geißler was a German physicist and inventor of the Geissler tube, a low pressure gas-discharge tube made of glass....
had first developed in the 1850s. "What’s wrong with my light?" Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
is said to have asked when he learned that Moore had started to tinker with light-producing tubes of gas as a potential replacement for the incandescent bulb. Moore is reported to have replied undiplomatically, "It’s too small, too hot and too red." Moore left in 1894 to form his own companies, the Moore Electric Company and the Moore Light Company.
Moore had devised his glow discharge lighting system by 1896. The Moore Lamp was an extension of the well-known Geissler tube
Geissler tube
A Geissler tube is an early gas discharge tube used to demonstrate the principles of electrical glow discharge. The tube was invented by the German physicist and glassblower Heinrich Geissler in 1857...
, which used glass tubes from which the air had been removed and a different gas inserted. The low-pressure gas glows when a current was passed through it. As described in 1915, "In the Moore system of lighting the essential feature is the introduction of a special valve which automatically admits gas into the tube as the supply becomes exhausted." The Moore lamps utilized nitrogen or carbon dioxide as the luminous gas; Moore's innovation compensated for the gradual loss of gas in the lamp to the electrodes and the glass. Carbon dioxide gave a good quality white light. The first commercial installation was done in 1904 in a hardware store in Newark, New Jersey. The lamp yielded about 10 lumens per watt, which was about triple the output of incandescent lights based on carbon filaments. Arthur Bright has written, "Despite the fact that the tube was expensive to install, complicated, and required very high voltages, its operating advantages were great enough for it to find restricted use in stores, offices, and similar general lighting uses as well as in photography and some advertising and decorative applications."
The modest success of the Moore tubes was among the drivers for developing better filaments for standard incandescent light bulbs. Tungsten filament bulbs were a sufficient improvement over carbon filaments that the Moore tubes "graduallly disappeared from the market, leaving only short carbon-dioxide tubes in use for color matching, in which they excelled because of their daylight color. The General Electric Company absorbed the two Moore companies and Moore's patents in 1912. Moore himself rejoined General Electric's laboratory force."
Moore's inventions at General Electric included a miniature neon lamp
Neon lamp
A neon lamp is a miniature gas discharge lamp that typically contains neon gas at a low pressure in a glass capsule. Only a thin region adjacent to the electrodes glows in these lamps, which distinguishes them from the much longer and brighter neon tubes used for signage...
that remained a fixture in electronic displays throughout the 20th Century, and was a forerunner of plasma displays. Both the lamp and his further inventions were also important to the early development of television. In particular, around 1917 Moore developed a "negative glow" neon lamp. These were miniature lamps with a very different design than the much larger neon tubes used for neon lighting
Neon lighting
Neon lighting is created by brightly glowing, electrified glass tubes or bulbs that contain rarefied neon or other gases. Georges Claude, a French engineer and inventor, presented neon tube lighting in essentially its modern form at the Paris Motor Show from December 3–18, 1910...
; a Smithsonian Institution website notes, "These small, low power devices use a physical principle called "coronal discharge." Moore mounted two electrodes close together in a bulb and added neon or argon gas. The electrodes would glow brightly in red or blue, depending on the gas, and the lamps lasted for years. Since the electrodes could take almost any shape imaginable, a popular application has been fanciful decorative lamps
Aerolux Light Corporation
Aerolux Light Corporation was a manufacturer of artful gas-discharge light bulbs from the 1930s through the 1970s. Aerolux made these bulbs in a factory in New York City. US Patents dating back to the 1930s describe the design and construction of these bulbs....
. Glow lamps found practical use as indicators in instrument panels and in many home appliances until the acceptance of Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) in the 1970s." In 1924 he invented the vacuum bulbs used in telephotography, and in 1925 improved it for use in television.
Moore was awarded the John Scott Medal of The Franklin Institute in 1911.
Death
On June 15, 1936, at the age of 67, Moore was shot to death on the lawn of his home in East Orange, New JerseyEast Orange, New Jersey
East Orange is a city in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the city's population 64,270, making it the state's 20th largest municipality, having dropped 5,554 residents from its population of 69,824 in the 2000 Census, when it was the state's 14th most...
, by an unemployed inventor who became enraged after finding that an invention he filed for, was already the subject of a patent granted to Moore.