Geissler tube (nonfiction)

A Geissler tube is an early gas discharge tube used to demonstrate the principles of electrical glow discharge. The tube was invented by the German physicist and glassblower Heinrich Geissler in 1857.

It consists of a sealed, partially evacuated glass cylinder of various shapes with a metal electrode at each end, containing rarefied gasses such as neon, argon, or air; mercury vapor or other conductive fluids; or ionizable minerals or metals, such as sodium. When a high voltage is applied between the electrodes, an electrical current flows through the tube. The current dissociates electrons from the gas molecules, creating ions, and when the electrons recombine with the ions, the gas emits light by fluorescence. The color of light emitted is characteristic of the material within the tube, and many different colors and lighting effects can be achieved.

The first gas-discharge lamps, Geissler tubes were novelty items, made in many artistic shapes and colors to demonstrate the new science of electricity.

In the early 20th century, the technology was commercialized and evolved into neon lighting.

• 

  January 23, 1862: Glassblower, physicist, and Gnomon algorithm theorist Johann Geißler demonstrates an advanced version of the Geissler tube which acts as a simple scrying engine, using low pressure gas-discharge luminescence as a remote-input-output modulator.