The Edison Effect
December 17, 2025 • EPISODE 291
What if Thomas Edison’s greatest discovery wasn’t the light bulb? In this episode of Science LIVE, Dr. Roger Billings explores the Edison Effect and how Edison’s experiments paved the way for electron tubes and modern electronics. Discover why this overlooked breakthrough mattered then—and why it still shapes technology today.
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.
Read more about DrB »
About the Roger Billings Scholarship Program »
Hello from Arkansas
hello!!! how do you know so much stuff??? it is amazing how much stuff you know
Thank you Pajet Monet and DrB you just made my week!
this is like my 200th time watching science live, can I get a shoutout as well?
Love Science Live!!
This is my first SCIENCE LIVE! It’s very interesting!
Dr.Billings is such a pleasure to watch. I enjoy the amount of things he has knowledge about. I never knew about the “Edison Effect”.
hi from Thailand
Hello! I’m new here! First Science Live. 🙂 This is great!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! TO EVERYONE!
\ At what age did Thomas Edison become Bill Lear’s mentor?
Merry Chrimas, I love
science Live. I learn new things every week I watch.
Hes so funny 😂
Hello from Georgia! Cell phones today are cooler than the ones from the past. Thanks technology!
What is the Thomas Edison effect?
So funny, we love it!
hi I am from ohio.
Hi Roger bilings
comment*hi this is ivy from cheny wa
hello Mr. Billings I am Hunter. It’s really cool to learn about your hydrogen creations. Do you think it would be able to make a hydrogen powered toaster?
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! Love science live!!!
I love science live !!!
Happy Holidays!!!
hi
This video was so interesting!!
I want to be an apex inventor when i grow up.
merry Christmas y’all from the south part of north carolina
This is my first live.
HI from Kentucky, I love science live so much!!!
hi i am from marland merry christmas
Dr. Pajet, may you please wave to us, let us know you see us? Thank you! Also, I really like Dr. B’s watch!!! Is that a rolex?
u are the best teacher
Best day of the week!
Is the Edison effect known as the vacuum effect?
Hi! From IN
1st time watching!!
Pay attention to Dr.R!
How does the Edison effect translate to today’s world?
I love science live my favorite class is ASL!!
I love science live its awesome to be here.
That’s very interesting how different phones used to look. They have came a long way!
never knew about who made the vacuum!!! So awesome
How does the Edison effect work?
wow sow cool!!!!!!!
Pay attention!
Cool!
interesting video
this is so amazing
why was the vacuum invented
I am excited for the ALS class 😃
great so far
Hi! From Macyn
Hi from Jayson.
wow i didn’t know that Thomas Edison created the vacuum That’s amazing
i hope to invent something one day
I did not know that he invented the vacuum
How does touch screen work?
HI! FROM TEXAS!
Hello Pajet Monet! How are you?
Why are the hot springs in Yellow Stone National Park so hot?
pay attention please lol I’m super enjoying this video thank you big r and little r!!! ☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️
Listen to R!
Hello from Sidney
Hi from Arkansas and Ryker
Lovee it
You’re doing a great job
Hiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Watching from AL, Happy holidays!
Thank you for the presentation.
What is the Edison effect???
Hello!
Omg this my first Science live, actually watching it live ever
Is the Edison effect still used in everyday products?
Dr billings is so knowledgeable
This is my first live Science L!VE! I am so happy to be here!
Welcome to the team, Inventioneer!!
Watching from Colorado!
This is my first science live
hi
Awesome!!!
from oklahoma
hiii
Hey this is savannah from TX i am going to miss you guys during break!
Hi from Zander in Illinois
i love science live
hi!!
WOW SO COOL
Hi from tn
Who was thomas edison mentor?
hi from Tennessee
The process to make the touchscreen keyboard was much more complicated than I ever thought it was.
Pay attention
This is my first science live
thomas edison was such an intelligent man
Hello from NJ!!!
wow
Love from Maryland
Hello!
Can you see our comments live?
Hello from Missouri! So happy to be here!
Interesting to know that Thomas Edison was also homeschooled and became an inventor of the light bulb.
science live is too good
Omg my comment was read on science live
I love science live
pay attention to R
Pay attention
The connections to Thomas Edison are so cool! glad to be blessed enough to learn new things in such a fun way.
I love science live!
i just want to thank everyone for their efforts to make this live class.
Did Apple patent the design that they used for the digital keyboard on the Iphone, or were other companies able to implement the same design?
I didn’t know that a power line had over a thousand watts! I had known that they had power but would have never thought that much!
billings you are the best teachers ever
Dr. Billings, I guess Thomas Edison is your great-mentor (like a grandparent)!
my dad has one of the first iphones from 2008
Hi from Jayden
Hi from Washington state!
I LOVE U DR . ROGER BILLINGS.
Hi from the Pacific Northwest.
Love ittt
Watching from Kentucky
I never knew who invented the vacuum, it’s very cool how they did that!
What is the Edison Effect?
hi
Thankful for inventors and lightbulbs!
Hi from NC! Merry Christmas!
Hello Mr. Tobias, you mentioned that the predecessor of touchscreen enabling phones were button utilizing phones but, did iPads and tablets also have a button utilizing predecessor?
What is the Edison Affect
I never knew that is who invented the vacuum, it is very cool
What is the “Edison Effect”?
I have a transformer in my back-yard!
I am happy to be here again. I learn something new every time I watch science live.
what does Dr Billings think is the best invention ever? The most helpful to us as a society?
Hello, these vidoes always inspire me even more to one day get into the stem field
I love science live!
It’s crazy how much you can learn from Acellus
I wonder how many iphones it took to find one working.
Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas
i love these videos
Hello from Mississippi and happy early Christmas!
Apex Inventor!
hi from LA
hi
We love science live
Hi from TN. I love this video
Thank you for this lesson! I’m learning so much.
Love science live
R51 invented the firefly, that’s pretty close to a light bulb lol
Hey Y’all!! Hello from AL
I love all the science lives!
Hi Dr. Billings!!
Very interesting episode, Looking forward to the next.
Nice
Hello from Montana
I never realized that older digital keyboards try to improve typing sensitivities based on predictions! Maybe I could test that with modern devices.
I did not know Thomas Edison created the vacuum. He must have invented a lot of things.
hi levi from nebraska i like acellus
Hi from South Carolina!
Hello from Huntsville Alabama future home of Space Force.
Merry Christmas from Austin
I am most definitely taking ASL as of course because that’s just so fascinating to me and I’ve always wanted to learn sign language and I just feel like that’s very important to learn and that’s something that every child should be learning because that’s actually considered a life skill because you never know who you’re going to come across.
How does heating and cooling elements work? I didn’t know that Thomas Edison created the vacuum! That was so cool!
Learning about Thomas Edison is such an interesting thing to do, I learn something new every time!
This is my first live Science L!VE! I am so happy to be here!
This is amazing
I wonder how long it took NASA to build the new telescope
How do the keys on the iPhone resize?
I would have thought he would of made money!
Science Live for a credit would be a great help towards graduation. I’m only a freshman. Thanks so much Dr. Billing.
cant wait for next live!
My parents had some of those old phones!
Woah I never knew Dr. Roger Billings mentors mentor was Thomas Edisson! Thats super cool!!!
So Dr Billings has a connection to Thomas Edison
It was very interesting to learn about the evolution of the Iphone and knowing that I am not as good as typing that I thought I was. 🙂
I thought the part about how the iPhone keyboard and stuff works was really cool
Hello from America
wish I was as smart as you<3
I love science
I really enjoyed this video 👍
HI
Mr. Billings is so cool i wanna be an inventor like him!
i love science
lit as always 🗣🔥
Hi from Montana!
I just realized, you didn’t even need Bill’s mentorship to build the hydrogen car! Truly a genius on your own.