This document discusses Thomas Edison's contributions to electric lighting and the development of fluorescent lamps as an alternative. It describes how Edison invented the first practical incandescent light bulb in 1879 and founded Edison General Electric to develop electric power stations and distribution systems. The document then explains the working principles of fluorescent lamps, which produce light through fluorescence excited by ultraviolet radiation. Fluorescent lamps were developed in the 1930s-1940s as more efficient alternatives to incandescent bulbs.