Edwin J. Houston

Edwin James Houston ( born July 9, 1847 in Alexandria ( Virginia), † March 1, 1914 ) was an American electrical engineer who developed a carbon arc lamp together with Elihu Thomson.

After earning his Bachelor of Art at Central High School Philadelphia, he was briefly worked at the Universities of Berlin and Heidelberg. To 1867 he was appointed by his high school to the chair of physical geography and natural sciences.

Among his pupils was eight years younger Elihu Thomson, who later became a chemist, but was also interested in electricity. This became his assistant and at the age of 18 years, his colleague as professor of chemistry. Together they experimented with electricity and invented a carbon arc lamp, which they patented in 1881 and produced.

1882 they founded in New Britain (Connecticut), the American Electric Company, which was soon renamed it in Thomson - Houston Electric Company.

In 1882 he left the Thomson - Houston Company back to teach. In 1894 he founded with Arthur Kennelly from the Edison laboratory, a consulting firm.

Works

• Notes on Phenomena in Incandescent Lamps; 1884 at the IEEE
• Electricity in Every-Day Life; New York: P. F. Collier & Son, 1904