Limelight
Limelight
is produced by directing an oxy-hydrogen flame on a piece of
quick-lime, which reflects a brilliant white light. This stream of light
fathered in a lantern is used for illuminating objects - on the theater
stage or music hall for instance - with an intense brilliance, and for
signaling and other purposes.
How It Works
An
intense white light obtained by heating a cylinder of lime in an
oxy-hydrogen flame. This intense illumination is created when the
oxy-hydrogen flame is directed at a cylinder of calcium carbonate, which
can be raised to white heat without melting. The light is produced by a
combination of incandescence and candoluminescence.
History
The
limelight effect was discovered in the 1820s by Goldsworthy Gurney,
based on his work with the "oxy-hydrogen blowpipe". Though credit is
normally given to Robert Hare.
In 1825 Thomas Drummond, a Scottish engineer, saw a demonstration of the effect by Michael Faraday and realized that the light would be useful for surveying. Drummond built a working version in 1826, and the light is sometimes known as the Drummond Light after him.
In 1825 Thomas Drummond, a Scottish engineer, saw a demonstration of the effect by Michael Faraday and realized that the light would be useful for surveying. Drummond built a working version in 1826, and the light is sometimes known as the Drummond Light after him.
Modern Day Usage
Although
it has long since been replaced by electric lighting, the term has
nonetheless survived, as someone in the public eye is still said to be
"in the limelight". ie: the full glare of publicity; the focus of
attention.
Covent Garden Theatre
Limelight
was first used in public in the in London in 1837 and enjoyed
widespread use in theatres around the world in the 1860s and 1870s.
Limelights were employed to highlight solo performers in the same manner
as modern followspots. To this day, theatre followspots are referred to
as limes. Limelight was quickly replaced by electric arc lighting in
the late 19th century.
