Thomas Edison is commonly credited as the inventor of the incandescent lightbulb, if somewhat controversially. Historians would agree that several scientists had invented working lightbulbs before Edison, and that the American inventor merely improved the functionality and reliability, getting his version patented. In school, Japanese children are often taught what a great figure he was, but they are seldom taught that the Japanese bamboo contributed greatly to the development of Edison’s electric lamp. In 1860, Joseph Swann invented an earlier prototype of a lightbulb. It had a filament made of carbon…
