This document discusses how passion drives progress and innovation. It uses the evolution of the lighter as an example, from the initial invention of the "tinderbox" by Johann Dobereiner due to his passion for science, to numerous improvements over the decades. The author also discusses how their own passion for lighting design has improved their work over three years, from basic designs to more detailed renderings and analysis. They argue that passion is needed for any field to continue advancing and producing high quality work that benefits others.

1. Passion for light: How it affects my (and your) world.
Retief Coetzer, MIESSA (ALP)
Beka Schreder
PO Box 120, Olifantsfontein, Johannesburg, 1665
e-mail: r.coetzer@beka-schreder.co.za
Phone: 011 238 0191
Abstract
The paper will discuss how passion in a broad sense affects any subject from inception of an idea to the
evolution and development thereof. It will show that nothing worth doing is done without passion and will
finally discuss how passion for light and the science of it, affects the designs produced by lighting designers,
such as myself and inevitably all lighting designers globally.
1. Introduction
The objective of this paper is to provide lighting engineers and lighting designers… and in a sense any person
with a passion for what they do, a better insight and understanding in how important passion is. Not only in a
notional sense of being passionate for something but rather also how important a role it plays in the inception of
ideas, the development of ideas into tangible, beautiful and functional designs/products and how passions’ very
nature can (and almost always is) be contagious.
2. Passion
According to the Oxford dictionary, passion is “An intense desire or enthusiasm for something”. Passion, in a
broad sense, is common place in every single person in the world. Be it passion for flying, playing golf, painting
and sculpting, cooking, the list is inexhaustible. It is, in my opinion the single most powerful emotion that can
drive people to create the most amazing and awe-inspiring products/designs/art that has ever been seen. It is a
creative force that allows the one experiencing the emotion to be creative for the sake of creativity, and not for
the sake of monetary or any other form of reward.
Passion is the reason we, as a species, have been able to do things that are not natural to us. In fact, without
passion I am almost certain that no technology today would’ve existed. We would not be able to fly, drive, see at
night, go to space, communicate over long distances, enjoy art, enjoy food etc. etc.
2.1 Passion as the driving force for technology
It would be almost impossible for me to delve into passion for every topic and technology, so I am going to
choose one topic specifically, the humble lighter. I hope to show that passion, and not simply necessity, played
the biggest role in changing the delivery of fire from bashing 2 rocks together to what we have available today. I
will, in quick progression, try and show the evolution of the lighter and the delivery of fire, and therefore heat
and in turn, light.

2. 2.2 Humble beginnings. Smart beginners.
Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner was a German chemist, who had a very humble beginning in life. He was born 13
December 1780, the son of a coachman. He was apprenticed to an apothecary where he discovered a love and
passion for science. He eventually became a professor at the University of Jena in Germany and is best known
for his work that foreshadowed the periodic law for the chemical elements. It was not his passion for creating fire
that created one of the first lighters but rather his passion for science, which took him on one of many ventures
that eventually led to the invention of one of the first commercially available sources of self-contained ignitors.
Dobereiner's "Lighter", invented in 1823, was known as "Dobereiner's lamp", which was also called a"tinderbox"
or "Feuerzeug" in German. Its process used zinc metal reacting with dilute sulphuric acid in order to create
hydrogen gas. When a valve was opened a jet of hydrogen was released onto a platinum sponge which catalayzed
the reaction with atmospheric oxygen, heated the catalyst and so ignited the hydrogen, producing a gentle flame.
It's said that in the 1820's over a million of these "tinderboxes" were sold. Unfortunately the “tinderbox” was also
quite dangerous and volatile. One wonders how many fires might have been caused by it?
2.3 Evolution of the lighter, in quick succession.
After Johan Wolfgang Dobereiner’s invention, the proverbial floodgates were opened and a reasonably quick
evolution of the technology ensued. In 1903 Ferrocerium was patented by Carl Auer von Welsbach. Ferrocerium
is often misidentified as flint. When Ferrocerium is scratched, a large and hot spark is produced, which can then
ignite a range of fuels as used in lighters today. Using Welsbach’s “flint”, companies like Ronson developed
practical and easy to use lighters, such as the Pist-O-Liter released in 1903 and the “Wonderlite” in 1910, which
was a permanent match style of lighter.
The legendary Zippo lighter company was founded by George G. Blaisdell in 1932 and has not changed much in
mechanism or design even today. The only major change with regards the Zippo was the fuel used. Originally it
used Naphta and in 1950 was changed to Butane. The Zippo also still carries the Life Time Warranty and is
marketed as Wind-Proof.
Using this new fuel is also said to have led to the use of the piezoelectric spark, which meant the need for a flint
wheel was negated. Piezoelectric discharge refers to the compression of certain materials (such as crystals) which
results in the build-up of an electric charge and the eventual release thereof. This invention eventually led to the
use of this technology in what is today referred to as the “electric lighter”.

3. There follows a range of technologies in this industry, and each one more ingenious than the
other. Other technologies are Flameless lighters, Catalytic lighters, Automobile lighters and
Electric Arc lighters.
2.4 It took passion!
I know I chose, what some might consider a very boring technology, to make a point quite clear… And that point
is that, was it not for Johann Wolfgang Dobereiners passion for science, and his willingness to pursue the inception
of the ideas that the love of science instilled in him (and many others like him), we might not have the technologies
available today to ignite a lighter or a light-bulb in the many variations of ignition. It took “an intense desire or
enthusiasm” for science, for the sake of science in order for this and many other technologies to evolve and
improve in both concept, design and functionality.
3 Lighting design – Richard Kelly
On 10th
January 1906, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) was established as a non-
profit learned society in New York City. Their mission statement to this day still is “to improve the lighted
environment by bringing together those with lighting knowledge and by translating that knowledge into actions
that benefit the public”.This is an amazing statement and one that smacks of passion for light, lighting and the
proper application of the knowledge of light and lighting to the various environments that would benefit from it.
Richard Kelly was one such a lighting designer. He had an absolute passion and deep appreciation for the artful,
skillful and correct application of light to the environment it was to be purposed to. He is also quoted as saying
“There weren’t lighting consultants then. Nobody would pay for my ideas, but they would buy fixtures”. Its so
very important to realize how much that quote is actually implying. It shows that those who bought the fixtures
really only associated value to the fixture itself rather than to the application of it. And once one realizes that it is
in the correct application of the fixture, that the purpose of both the fixture and the environment to be lit, is
realized. Therefore the “idea” or today rather the design, is to a great extent much more important in realizing the
fixtures full potential than the fixture itself.
Richard Kelly was a man so dedicated to his work, and he carved out such a name for himself in his specific field
of lighting design/consultancy that after his death in 1977 the IES established the Richard Kelly Grant in his
name, in order to encourage creativity in lighting among young people. I would like to propose that creativity is
the offspring of passion. And that without passion, creativity would find no foothold in anyone, for anything,
ever. By the 1950’s Richard Kelly’s work in lighting design had led him to coin the terms ‘focal glow’, ‘ambient
luminescence’ and ‘play of brilliants’ to describe particular effects in lighting design.
Some of his most notable lighting design projects include
 the David H Koch Theatre (then New York State Theatre).
 Glass House.
 Kimbell Art Museum.
 Seagram building.

4. David H. Koch Theatre at night - Exterior
David H. Koch Theatre at night - Interior

5. The Glass House – New Canaan - at night - Exterior
Kimbell Art Museum – Interior
Seagram Building - Exterior

6. Richard Kelly
“Lighting is such a large part of the visual arts-architecture, most of all - that I’m sure the best
we can do today will be inadequate tomorrow...” Richard Kelly, 1958.
4 How passion for lighting affects my world
As you can see in the images above, I am sure you will agree that none of the brilliant (and purposely functional)
visual effects and emotional responses would have been possible, was passion not the key driving force. Passion
by the architect, the artist and the lighting designer. In this case I would like to focus on the lighting design aspect
and more specifically, me, and how passion for light and lighting have influenced and influences still, my life as
a lighting designer.
I can’t go anywhere anymore without looking at lighting installations and having an opinion, most of the time
audibly, about them. Some installations are wonderful, others simply functional and then, unfortunately a lot of
them seem even to the untrained eye to be haphazard and makeshift. This mindset I think is now forever part of
me, as a lighting designer in training.
Having started my adventure on the path of knowledge of lighting and application thereof at Beka-Schréder, I
have come to realize that I know nothing. I have only started chipping away at the proverbial “Ice-Berg”, yet I
intend to carry on, indefinitely. This is because I love every aspect of it.
My passion for lighting has had a very positive effect on my world. It affects me at home and at work, and mostly
it challenges me, as an individual, in my character and approach to everything.
You see, lighting design has at its core, a very methodological approach. First we assess what needs to be
accomplished, then we formulate a plan of action. We look at the tools available to us in order for us to efficiently
and as quickly as possible, realize the project. Tools such as the luminaires (both HID and LED), the software
packages (AGI32 and ULYSSE, Relux, Dialux and a variety of CAD programs) and finally the environment
itself.

7. At the start of my tenure at Beka-Schréder my designs were crude and fraught with mistakes. This showed my
lack of knowledge and understanding of light. But with good guidance and self-critical analysis, this all started
to change. I learned and applied, and like any good shampoo would indicate, I repeated if necessary. I started
growing in my knowledge of application and the theory behind it. I love learning about everything that lighting
design must incorporate and take into consideration. Things like daylight, carbon footprint, lighting power
density, reflectance factors, maintenance factors, V-Lambda curve and the list goes on.
4.1 Crude beginnings
When I first started designing my approach was very basic and simply functional. I tried doing what was required
and worked only to be as fast as possible whilst trying not to make any mistakes. The designs were very basic in
both the way it was presented and with regards the information available for the client to digest. Below is an
example of one of my very first street lighting designs.
Only kidding, but Im sure you’ve seen installations very similar to the one above and wondered to yourself, what
was the point? The following image is one of my first designs.

8. Plan view of design
4.2 Getting there…
Now, almost 3 years later my approach still takes time into consideration but also my thought process has changed
to take into consideration how the presentation looks when first opened, what information is displayed, can I
build a decent 3D model without wasting time, will the client understand the information presented etc.
Below are a few examples of what my designs look like now, and how I try to present something that could
potentially be understood easier by someone who relies on our knowledge and might not themselves, have the
knowledge to interpret lighting applications and calculations.

9. Plan view of design
Magnified Luminaire and Calculation summary
Magnified Luminaire Location summary

10. Plan view of 3D rendering
Isometric view of 3D rendering

11. Street level view of 3D rendering
Perspective views of photometric web particular to optic defined
As you can see, the information available now, 3 years on, is substantially improved compared to the first design
3 years ago. The client can get a “feel” for what the installation will look like once installed. The client will
understand how the optics within the luminaire system help to optimize light spread and so increase spacing
between poles, cutting costs. With the 3D renderings the client can also better interpret the setback position of
the pole, although with Ulysse 3.3.1 which we use in conjunction with AGI32, in order to accurately determine
best spacing for an installation, the client will have no confusion as to the setback, outreach and overhang.
And these are only the Road lighting designs. I have not touched on Facades, Industry, Commercial etc. This
paper will become too long should I go into all of it.

12. 5 How passion for lighting affects your world
Finally, I would like to discuss how passion for lighting as a lighting designer, affects the world for everyone else.
There is quite obviously a need for lighting design. But good lighting design is something completely different
than simply determining how many luminaires to use in a room…
Passion for lighting enables the lighting designer to take into account the total cost of the installation and how
with optimization, the client can realize savings with regards initial capital cost and ROI period, before eventually
realizing continued savings.
The lighting designer also takes into account how other factors can influence the client’s “pocket” and he/she
tries to lessen that financial impact at every turn.
We use daylight to reduce the illuminance produced by the luminaire during the day, further cutting down on
costs.
We recommend best practice such as lighting controls and programmable ballasts, again to further reduce costs.
Passion for lighting allows the designer to try and promote cost effective design for the client, whilst still
providing installations that provide and promote visual comfort, reduced glare, safety, beauty and function.
It is of paramount importance that the installation the lighting designer works on adheres to standards in order to
facilitate safe movement and practice, whilst in very many designs also being beautiful and complimentary to the
architecture of a building or area, without the luminaire becoming the “centre of attention”. Light, in my opinion
must almost always be purposely complimentary, enhancing and delicate.
6 Conclusion
 Passion, along with necessity, drives everything and drives it well
 Nothing worth doing is done without passion
 Passion for lighting can create some of the most wonderful works of art
 Lighting designers need to be passionate
 Lighting design is essential to good installations
 Passion for lighting is the key difference in designing something and designing it well
 Lighting design affects all where the design has been applied
7 References
1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/johann_wolfgang_dobereiner
2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/lighter
3) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/piezoelectricity
4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/illuminating_Engineering_Society_of_North_America
5) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/richard_kelly_(lighting_designer)
6) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/david_H._Koch_Theatre#/media/File:New_York_State_Theater_at
rium_by_david_shankbone.jpg
7) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/david_H._Koch_Theatre#/media/File:The_David_H._Koch_Theat
er_at_Lincoln_Center_photo_D_Ramey_Logan.jpg
8) https://www.google.co.za/search?q=the+glass+house&espv
9) IES Instructors handbook