Children of the Geissler Tube
3 paulkrush 1 8/20/2025, 2:03:51 PM hopefulmons.com ↗
Comments (1)
paulkrush · 2d ago
Core claim: “Geissler tubes as a computer ancestor”
I was really surprised at this and had to verify it “: Fair: Geissler’s 1857 gas-discharge tubes popularized controlled glow discharges and directly led to Crookes tubes, cathode rays, and gas-discharge lighting. Earlier glow experiments existed (Hauksbee, Faraday), but Geissler standardized the form that kicked off the tech tree. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geissler_tube”
It is odd that Heinrich Geissler does not have a bigger place in history. I guess he was just a “toy” builder…
Also interesting: Most keyword searches treat ß ≈ ss, so “Geißler” and “Geissler” have the same search results.