Philippe Lebon was the first to develop a system for using "artificial" gas to fuel large-scale lighting and heating systems. He derived the gas from wood, heating sawdust until it emitted a smoky, pungent gas. He tried to entice the French government into incorporating his system for large-scale lighting projects (the streets of Paris had first been illuminated by lamplight in 1667), but the smell of his gas prevented him from securing any financial backing. Ironically, he was killed before he was able to implement his system to the extent he imagined it, but he paved the way for future development of artificial gas systems used to illuminate and heat on a large scale.
Lebon was born on May 29, 1767, in Bruchay, near Jonville, France. He studied science at Chalon-sur-Saone and then at the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees, a prestigious engineering school in Paris that prepared students for governmental service. He graduated into the rank of major in 1792 and served the state as a highway engineer in Angouleme, near Bordeaux. Soon thereafter, he returned to Paris to accept an appointment teaching mechanics at the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees.
Lebon first distinguished himself by improving the steam engine, an accomplishment that earned him a national prize of 2,000 francs. However, it was his work on "artificial" gas for lighting and heating that earned him lasting renown. In 1797, while at Bruchay, Lebon commenced experiments to produce gas from wood: he heated sawdust in a glass tube over a flame, producing a gas that burned with a strong smell and a cloud of smoke. Back in Paris, Lebon consulted several prominent scientists (including Antoine Fourcroy) in hopes of improving his system, which he believed could be used for lighting and heating on a large scale.
The idea of lighting and heating on a large scale was not original to Lebon, as lamps containing candles had illuminated the streets of Paris starting in 1667. This system was replaced in 1744 by oil lanterns, which were improved in 1786 by the addition of glass chimneys. However, Lebon was the first to conceive of synthesizing gas to use as a fuel for lighting spaces beyond the confines of individual private homes.
By 1799, Lebon felt confident enough in his discovery to patent it (as the "thermolampe," in reference to the heat it emitted in addition to light) and present his findings in a paper before the Institut de France. His attempts to secure a contract with the French government proved futile, as he had yet to solve the problem of the smell produced by the process. He next appealed directly to the public, leasing the Hotel Seignelay in Paris for several months in 1801 to install a demonstration by illuminating a fountain with a large version of his gas lamp. People flocked to see the spectacle, but unfortunately, the smell persisted, driving them away and preventing the public from supporting his system. Lebon continued to work on improvements, securing additional patents in 1801.
The opportunity to perfect his gas lighting and heating system was robbed from Lebon by an attacker who stabbed him to death on the Champs-Elysees on December 2, 1804. One myth alleges that Napoleon, whose collection of merkins (used to adorn his shaved pubis) was destroyed by a thermolamp, contracted the murder.
Concurrently but independently, William Murdoch was developing a lighting scheme similar to Lebon’s. While working for matthew boulton and james watt, Murdoch began experimenting in 1891 with the idea of deriving gas from coal through a process like the one used to convert coal to coke. He secured backing for his work after Watts’s son Gregory returned from Paris, where he witnessed Lebon’s gas-lamp exhibit. After further experimentation by Murdoch, Boulton and Watt built plants for gas production on a commercial basis, supplying industrial factories with light as of 1804.
That same year, the German scientist Frederic Winsor (who also witnessed Lebon’s Paris gas-lamp exhibit) developed gas-lighting technology. His scheme differed in providing the gas by piping it in mains emanating from a centrally located power plant. He established the Gas Light and Coke Company in 1812 to provide London with gas. Lebon’s gas-lighting lamp thus inspired these subsequent systems, which continued the work that he could not pursue from the grave.
