Let There Be Light
Risk & Progress| A hub for essays that explore risk, human progress, and your potential. My mission is to educate, inspire, and invest in concepts that promote a better future. Subscriptions are free, paid subscribers gain access to the full archive, including the Pathways of Progress and Realize essay series.
Light may be the ultimate testament to human ingenuity. By the year 1900, the Second Industrial Revolution was in full swing. Electricity generated via steam turbines, slithered into our homes, enabling households to take advantage of electrically powered devices for the first time. One of the primary drivers of electrification was the invention of the incandescent lightbulb. Lighting on demand, at the flick of a switch, changed everything. With the incandescent bulb, we could safely work and play in the dark of night without candles or oil lamps. The lightbulb made the production of light vastly more efficient and affordable.
There is perhaps no better example of the potential of progress than found in the history of illuminating the darkness. William Nordhaus, in a study on the subject, tracked the progress of lighting technology from pre-history to modernity, from the open fire to the lightbulb. One of our pre-historic ancestors, Homo erectus, tamed fire and used it for cooking and lighting at…
