I wrote:
> He aimed instead to wow the public by putting on displays of lights, that > might actually have been in series, for all anyone could tell. > I believe one of the the first public demonstrations of incandescent lights in series was made by Moses Farmer, in Boston, in 1858, 21 years before Edison. My impression is that the scientists attacking Edison were saying (in effect), "There is nothing new here! You have not actually solved the problem!" They were not saying "incandescent lights are impossible." The public, on the other hand, did not know what was possible and what wasn't. It was impressed by the bright lights. The parallels to cold fusion are interesting. No scientist denies that fusion is possible. They say metal lattice fusion without neutrons is impossible. The public does not understand that distinction. Some members of the public have the impression that the scientific establishment thinks fusion itself is impossible. - Jed
