Material Morsels
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MATERIAL MORSELS Reviews with a materials angle.
Glasgow: City of Light Materials Walking Tour Evening Stroll (see map) [1]-[2]-[5]-[7]-[9]: ~1 mile/~1.6 kilometers Daytime Diversions [8] or [10]
Best time: The bright lights are welcome in the depths of winter when Glasgow experiences 17 hours of darkness. As summer approaches, the days lengthen and by May/June, Glasgow basks in 16 hours of daylight. However, the city’s multicolored lights may still be enjoyed at dusk (around 10 p.m. in summer), after you’ve gone out for a curry! The latest lighting technologies are evident throughout the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Metal halide lights, fiber-optic cables, and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) give Buchanan Street ([1] on the map) a dramatic blue glow. At night, the River Clyde, viewed from the South Portland Street Suspension Bridge [2], looks spectacular with the George V, Glasgow, and Victoria bridges and the Glasgow Weir illuminated with blue LED floodlighting [3–6]. The vibrant red, amber, and green LED traffic lights on Glassford Street [7] also add their color to the city streets. This vivid lighting is only possible due to new developments in materials ranging from semiconductors to metal alloys. Blue LED lighting (and green LED traffic lights), for example, have emerged from recent research on InGaN. Lamp glass breakage
Glasgow Weir illuminated with blue LEDs ([6] on the map). Courtesy of Steve Hosey at DRS Graphics.
due to temperature swings may be practically eliminated through the development of glasses with low coefficients of expansion. And lamp housings being manufactured from low-copper aluminum alloys can now resist all kinds of weather. In the early 18th century, public lighting was uncommon, even in the large cities, and nightfall brought with it almost total darkness. Glasgow at that time was more like a village, but it had ideas above its station, and in 1767 the Town Council decided that lamps should be provided.
For a more detailed map, see www.glasgowguide.co.uk/maps-full.html.
MRS BULLETIN • VOLUME 30 • MAY 2005
Lighting at that time was very primitive, consisting of an occasional oil lamp on a wooden pedestal. The complexity and expense of these oil lamps made largescale street lighting impractical. As the 19th century began, the discovery of the illuminating properties of coal gas by Scot William Murdoch paved the way for a transformation of nighttime Glasgow. In 1817, the Gas Light Company was formed, and on September 15, 1818, the first streetlight proper was switched on in Glasgow. By day, gas lighting can still be seen at the Tenement House, 145 Buccleuch Street [8]. In 1879, electric lighting was introduced. Glasgow City Chambers in George Square [9] was one of the first buildings to benefit from this new-fangled technology. In 1885, the council made the adventurous decision that the Banqueting Hall should have electric light. Grand electric chandeliers called electroliers were installed—and can still be seen today, although the odd light bulb has been changed! Today, every light bu
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