Science and technology in the United States finish. For example, the British engineer Joseph Swan built an incandescent electric lamp in 1860, almost 20 years before Edison. But Edison's light bulbs lasted much longer than Swan's, and they could be turned on and off individually, while Swan's bulbs could be used only in a system where several lights were turned on or off at the same time. Edison followed up his improvement of the light bulb with the development of electrical generating systems. Within 30 years, his inventions had introduced electric lighting into millions of homes. Another landmark application of scientific ideas to practical uses was the
General Electric employees of GE have been awarded the Nobel Prize: Irving Langmuir in 1932 and Ivar Giaever in 1973. During 1889, Thomas Edison had business interests in many electricity-related companies including "Edison Lamp Company", a lamp manufacturer in East Newark, New Jersey; "Edison Machine Works", a manufacturer of dynamos and large electric motors in Schenectady, New York; "Bergmann & Company", a manufacturer of electric lighting fixtures, sockets, and other electric lighting devices; and "Edison Electric Light Company", the patent-holding company and the financial arm backed by J.P. Morgan and the Vanderbilt family for Edison's lighting experiments. In 1889, Drexel, Morgan &