Irving Langmuir • Irving Langmuir Irving Langmuir invented the electric incandescent lamp. • Irving Langmuir Biography

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Irving Langmuir (1881-1957) was an American chemist. Among his accomplishments was the introduction of atomic-hydrogen welding, the invention of a gas-filled tungsten lamp and contributions to the development of the radio vacuum tube. Langmuir won the 1932 Nobel Prize in chemistry, for his work in surface chemistry. He discovered that particles of dry ice and iodide added to certain clouds could produce rain or snow.

According to Dr. David P. Stern at NASA:

The use of the term "plasma" for an ionized gas started in 1927 with Irving Langmuir (1881-1957), an American whose achievements ranged from the chemistry of surfaces to cloud seeding for promoting rain, and who in 1932 won the Nobel prize for chemistry. Irving Langmuir worked for the General Electric Co., studying electronic devices based on ionized gases, and the way the electrified fluid carried high velocity electrons, ions and impurities reminded him of the way blood plasma carried red and white corpuscles and germs.

Tungsten Wire History
Tungsten filaments are used in electric incandescent lamps.

Tungsten Technical Information & History
The history of tungsten goes back to the 17th century.

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