Abstract :
Edison´s work on electric lighting, which shaped the future of the whole electrical industry, was guided by one clear aim: `to effect [an] exact imitation of all done by gas, to replace lighting by gas by lighting by electricity¿. The early development of the electrical industry was based on the simple strategy of using the superiority of the electric lamp to drive the gas companies out of the highly profitable lighting market. For over a decade this strategy worked, but then the gas companies hit back with a new form of gas lighting that neatly turned the tables on the electric lamp. This new threat to electrical development delayed the final triumph of the electrical industry for nearly 20 years
