Incandescent - Definition and Overview

Incandescence is the release of electromagnetic radiation from a hot body due to its high temperature. The release of radiation is usually in the infrared (heat) region, known as thermal radiation, and the visible light region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Incandescence occurs in light bulbs, because the filament resists electron flow. This excites electrons in the filament material to jump to a higher orbit, and thus subsequently release a photon. The same process occurs when something is on fire or during an explosive or a combustion reaction. Incandescence can also produce X-rays, but usually most of the energy is dissipated in the form of heat.

"Incandescence" was also a word used often by Virginia Woolf in her book, A Room of One's Own. Woolf subscribed to the philosophy that an artist of ultimate genius must possess a mind that is incandescent, a word which she defines as a mind in which "There must be no obstacle...no foreign matter unconsumed" (56). In this light (pun intended), incandescence becomes the foundation of artistic brilliance as a mechanism that allows the artist to free himself of personal baggage and become what is essentially an empty vessel capable of transporting poetry onto paper. According to Woolf, William Shakespeare's genius stems from his "incandescent" mind.

See also: incandescent light bulb