Inventing the Lightbulb – How Fishing Inspired Edison
February 05, 2025 • EPISODE 251
Did you know Thomas Edison didn’t just invent the light bulb? He also fished for ideas! Listen as Roger Billings shares how a fishing trip led to one of the greatest inventions of all time.
About DrB
Dr. Roger Billings is a visionary innovator whose work has touched the lives of millions of students and transformed the landscape of education. Widely known as “DrB” to the countless kids who benefit from his groundbreaking Acellus learning system, Dr. Billings has dedicated his life to advancing education through technology.
As part of DrB’s lifelong commitment to supporting education, Science LIVE was launched as a way to “give back” by mentoring students in conjunction with the Roger Billings Scholarship Program.
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Thomas Edison was a genius
I didn’t know that about how fishing inspired Edison with the light bulb
I did not know fishing ever had anything to do with the light bulb. How cool!!
I’ve only went fishing a few times, but this make me want to make it a regular hobby.
I love Thomas Edison
I’ll have to discuss this with my family when we go fishing this weekend. Very interesting!
I love fishing
That’s so cool that fishing inspired Edison’s creations!
Wow its so interesting the fishing inspired Thomas Edison!
I didn’t know the lightbulb was inspired by fishing.
i go fishing all the time
the correlation between fishing and lightbulbs is extremely surprising, I love it!
It is really interesting on how fishing inspired Thomas Edison!
I will bring this up to my dad the next time we go fishing.
Who would’ve thought the lightbulb was inspired from a fishing trip.
I know that a filiment from bamboo can be used to make light bulbs last way longer, and that using flies to catch fish is really hard.
I love fishing!
I love how the two completely different things are related.
GREAT VIDEO
that’s cool
Wow!
amazing video!
I actually caught a small catfish once.
The fact that fishing inspired the lightbulb is crazy.
I love your fishing storys.
Wow fishing is so cool!
I had never heard the full story on how he got the idea for the lightbulb! So interesting.
Fishing is cool. I’m glad that it inspired the lightbulb.
Fishing is actually really fun
I thought it was intriguing how Edison got the idea for the lightbulb from a fishing trip. Nonetheless the world might be pretty different if he didn’t.
How crazy the story about fishing! Electricity is cool!
man i love fishing
I loved the fishing story
Thomas Edison was a genius.
It amazing how things work in this world. Thank goodness for science and technology, if it wasn’t for that we would still be living in the caveman days.
Thomas Edison is so cool
It is a really crazy thinking that a man wanting to be isolated created one of the greatest inventions ever.
This was an interesting science live. I always enjoy hearing stories about Thomas Edison. My family enjoys fishing, so the story about the king silver was fun to listen to.
Inspiring
I would have never guessed the light bulb invention came from a fishing trip.
I did not know he was a fisherman.
We really liked the finishing story and how inspired the edison to the greatest invention.
The connection between fishing and the lightbulb I thought was hilarious!!
All science is behind the inspiration. Great minds are so amazing.
We go fishing in the big boat. I like to catch big fish.
It was very surprising that Edison was the fisherman.
It was really surprising Edison even fished
Nice video, loved all the fishing stories.
Inspiring story
It’s amazing how fishing ended up creating one the best inventions us as humans have made thank you for the information
Love the fishing story! And I love to fish!
It was very interesting to learn that because Edison fished he learned about bamboo and fishing inspired him.
It’s interesting that the lightbulb came from a fishing trip, I would’ve never guessed that.
The fishing story was really cool and funny
super fun to learn about lightbulbs
Learning these things has been a highlight. I think it’s very cool how ideas come about.
Funny story but very cool
Inspiring story
How cool… My Family and I love fishing.
Love Science Live
It’s very cool how fishing pushed us into the furture of light
Very fun to learn so much about the light bulb.
So cool how Edison used fishing with bamboo to improve his idea!
interesting fish story
The story of Thomas Edison and his son’s fishing trip is really funny and I enjoyed it.
Very cool to learn about the light bulb.
It’s pretty cool how just a regular fishing trip could lead to a monumental discovery into something we use today.
I am so happy we have lightbulbs so we can see when it is dark. I thought it was amazing when I learned how Thomas Edison went about inventing the lightbulb.
I loved learning about the light bulb.
Was Thomas Edison really Dr.Billing’s mentor? Did he eat the fish he caught?🐟
I wonder what would happen if you use the intelligence tester on R-51? Ms. Pajet is our fishing expert.
I love Mr. Edison. Not only he changed the world but he is a a great role model. And I agree I think he invented the light bulb.
I like the Edison fishing story because that’s just how it go’s sometimes
Listing to this video on electricity now makes me want to go fishing.
I didn’t know that Thomas Edison have tried to find the perfect incandescent. He have tried over 1,000 incandescents.
I did not know the idea of a lightbulb came from fishing.
I think that without lightbulbs we would all have such a different life light if we did not have light it would be hard to see at night so could not do as much at night as we would during the day that is why I am so thankful that we have lightbulbs.
It’s so wild to me that Edison had 1000+ inventions
I wonder what if Thomas Edison haven’t gotten a bamboo fishing pole, will the world look just as it is today? Will someone else have an idea just as Edison and become the famous inventor that invented the lightbulb?
This is soooo interesting especially on how simple things like Edison fishing influenced his idea with the light bulbs, it truly makes you wonder before he passed did, he ever stop wondering about things we haven’t discovered to this day, things he could have invented?
And they thought he was crazy when he discovered how to make lightbulbs
I would have never guessed that correlation
That is a great story of fishing leading to lightbulb. He also invented the phonograph.
I never knew Thomas Edison was a fisherman. I found this interesting.
This is an example about how the real world can inspire. It’s similar to an apple falling from a tree leading to the discovery of gravity.
I knew I liked fishing! Thomas was a smart man!
it is so cool that fishing inspired him to created all of these thing because i fish in a bass club
edison is an interesting guy!
What else did Edison invented?
What else did he do
I am so glad we have lightbulbs for light!
wow I want to go fishing now!
Do you think fishing is the reason Edison decided to invent the light bulb?
There’s a theory that how Edison invented the incandescent, the theory is Edison dropped his bamboo fishing pole into the campfire, causing the ends to glow.
Thomas Edison is one of the most famous scientists for making a long-lasting lightbulbs I never thought of him as a fisherman.
I love fishing
Very educational!
This live makes me wonder if Edison used to go fishing with his dad in his youth,
I’ve never known Edison’s story
Have you ever solved a rubics cube?
The story of Edison is so inspirational 🤔
I love fishing, thats so cool how it sparked the idea of a lightbulb!
What other things did Thomas Edison create?
who was the first person to find out that you can move electrons from one atom to another?
Thomas Edison is one of the most famous for making long-lasting light bulbs, but I never saw him as a fisher.
I love fishing even more now after this lesson!
I never knew this about fishing
It’s crazy how fishing led to the development of the lightbulb!
pretty cool how fishing has so much to do with the light bulb
this is so cool who would’ve thought fishing had so much to do with the light bulb
That’s so col;)
Haha Fishing never seemed like it would have had something to do with the light bulb!
It is very interesting how light bulbs got invented
I enjoy fishing just like Thomas Edison. Maybe I will come up with the next great idea!
Light always helps us every day
WOW!!!
woah i didnt know this
I love fishing. My brother and I go fishing every week. And i love the history about Thomas Edison.
I would love to fish an hour a day.. maybe not with dynamite
It’s amazing how ideas come to people in the most random places like on a fishing trip
Who knew fishing could help invent the lightbulb!
I was today years old when I found out one simple idea can make so much history
Wow fishing had something to do with the light bulb crazy
I love fishing 🎣
Crazy I never knew the story of the light bulb to this extent.
Edison’s improvement on the lightbulb changed the world. This is awesome.
It’s so insane how something as simple as a fishing trip can lead to the inventions of something that has been so crucial for the rest of the world. It really shows that anything can mean something if you put your mind to it.
I love fishing
Woah! I wouldnt have thought about this!!
Fishing trip into a light bulb is crazy
Light bulbs are a great invention
This entire time I had thought that Thomas Edison was just a regular dude that created a lightbulb spontaneously, now I realized it was much more to that.
This was so fun to learn
I find it very interesting and special that Mr. Roger Billings was mentored by a student of Thomas Edison and Edison’s unique joy for fishing.
Going fishing changed the world forever.
Loved this one!
I’m glad Thomas Edison invented the light bulb!! Also fly fishing sounds interesting.
My brother is a big deep sea fisher.
i love the show
I have learned some new stuff today!
Wow. This was a fun episode. Wonder what other inventions were invented revolving around electricity?
I Liked when Roger Billing was talking about the invention of the light bulb.
my favorite thing to do during summer is fish
The fact that a simple fishing trip changed how we would live our lives and the development of the world is so cool!
I didn’t know fishing and the lightbulb had anything in common.
I could have never guessed that a fishing trip could change the world.
I love fishing
I guess bamboo isn’t just for pandas…
Fishing is one of my favorite hobbies
I liked watching the electron experiment. I thought it was cool when 2 electrons moved the two on the other side. I liked this video.
you know what they say, insperation can come from anywere
Loved the story about fishing.
Loved this one! We love fishing.
“She’s not impressed”….hahaha!!!
who knew fishing was so important!
it is so cool how Edison made the light bulb.
We take lightbulbs for granted every day, it’s fascinating to know that their creation stemmed from a fishing trip!
I never knew fishing could end up being that important!
Fishing is awesome! It helped Thomas Edison create the light bulb.
Thank God for creative minds.
I go fishing all the time, it was interesting to learn more about lightbulbs.
The fishing part surprised me a lot.
Fishing for ideas lol
think is so cool to learn that fishing inspired edision with inventing the light bulb, never knew that before today
Its crazy that Thomas Edison got his idea of light bulbs from fishing
Maybe I should go fishing for some new ideas, haha!
Well i was today years old when i learned that fishing had something to do with the light bulb.
Who would have known a fishing trip would change the world.
I love fishing!!!
This is so cool
WOW!
If he did not just make the lightbulb what other big ides has he made that has made a big impact on us
Bamboo?! Such a SMART IDEA!!!
It’s interesting that fishing can create ideas like Thomas Edison had.
Lightbulbs are taken for granted