Light satanic mills : the impact of artificial lighting in early factories
For almost all of manâs existence, his life has been ruled by the sun; work and leisure activities were largely restricted to the hours of daylight. Until little more than 200 years ago, artificial light sources were ineffective for all but the most basic tasks and were, in any event, unaffordable by most members of society. The changes which have created our modern 24 hour culture, in which almost no activity is constrained by the availability of natural light, have taken place, in industrial societies, in a relative short period of time since the late 18th century, and are still proceeding in parts of the developing world. Previous studies of artificial lighting have relied heavily on cultural sources and provide an imperfect understanding of the effects these developments had on society. This project concentrates on the changes that lighting brought to the workplace, and applies the techniques of historical archaeology specifically to the factories of late 18th- and early 19th-century Britain, where so many aspects of modern industrial life were pioneered. The deployment of artificial lighting in factories (particularly of gas lighting, which was first developed in the cotton mills of Britain) is traced
West, Ian Edward
Light satanic mills : the impact of artificial lighting in early factories. For almost all of manâs existence, his life has been ruled by the sun; work and leisure activities were largely restricted to the hours of daylight. Until little more than 200 years ago, artificial light sources were ineffective for all but the most basic tasks and were, in any event, unaffordable by most members of society. The changes which have created our modern 24 hour culture, in which almost no activity is constrained by the availability of natural light, have taken place, in industrial societies, in a relative short period of time since the late 18th century, and are still proceeding in parts of the developing world. Previous studies of artificial lighting have relied heavily on cultural sources and provide an imperfect understanding of the effects these developments had on society. This project concentrates on the changes that lighting brought to the workplace, and applies the techniques of historical archaeology specifically to the factories of late 18th- and early 19th-century Britain, where so many aspects of modern industrial life were pioneered. The deployment of artificial lighting in factories (particularly of gas lighting, which was first developed in the cotton mills of Britain) is traced
light mill impact artificial_light early factory almost man existence life rule sun work leisure_activity largely restrict hour artificial_light source ineffective basic task event member_society change create modern hour culture almost activity availability natural light take_place industrial_society relative short_period time since still proceed part develop world previous_study artificial_light rely_heavily cultural source provide imperfect effect development society project concentrate change light bring workplace applies techniques historical archaeology specifically late early th_century britain many_aspect modern industrial life pioneer deployment artificial_light factory particularly first developed cotton mill britain trace