Lecture 1 - Appliance science
George Bernard Shaw said that "Home is the girl's prison and the woman's work house". However, the continual requirement for novel, labour-saving, devices to reduce time spent on household chores has resulted in a wide range of domestic appliances incorporating modem technology developed originally for other purposes. A good example to illustrate the bridge of technology is the microwave oven, the popularity of which is due to greater emphasis being placed on speed and ease of preparation of food. Scientific research is now exploring novel methods of cooking involving frequencies other than microwaves.
Light, or the absence of it after dark, was an important factor in social history. "The night cometh, when no man can work" described biblically the general attitude to the hours of darkness. When Michael Faraday was appointed to the Royal Institution in 1813 as Humphry Davy's assistant, his terms of employment specified that he would be supplied with candles free of charge! It is interesting to note that the most famous series of Christmas Lectures given by Faraday was on "The Chemical History of a Candle". Davy himself contributed to advances in lighting with his invention of the safety lamp and by first demonstrating the wonders of the carbon arc in the Royal Institution.
The most popular electronic lamp is the incandescent lamp. The parallel inventions of Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan were made just over a century ago but still this type of lighting predominates despite its relatively low luminous efficiency. Fluorescent lights are far more efficient but their popularity has suffered because of the extensive and bulky electrical ballasts required to control their operation. Exciting work is underway to use silicon micro-electronic circuits for this purpose. There is also a resurgence of interest in developing novel light sources, for example, those relying on radio frequency stimulation.
About the 1988 CHRISTMAS LECTURES
Professor Gareth Roberts (1940-2007), then of Thorn EMI plc and the University of Oxford, and later Sir Gareth, presents the 1988 CHRISTMAS LECTURES titled 'The Home of the Future'. The impact of modern developments in electronics, materials and communications technology is becoming increasingly apparent in the home. There are numerous examples of innovative products that have arisen due to a combination of scientific progress and market demands. Many other exciting ideas are now emerging from industrial and academic laboratories and will play a significant role in homes during the next decade. These will be discussed in this series of lectures together with classic discoveries and inventions in related areas.