Discovery of LED Lighting: a History of Science between Research, Work and Serendipity

The history of science is often made up of chance and that of the discovery of LED lighting is no exception to this rule. The declaration of birth of LED lighting appeared where it was not expected: in the cradle of telecommunications. From the end of the 19th century until the beginning of the 1960s, the only interest motivating research around diodes was the detection and amplification of electromagnetic signals for transmission and wireless telecommunications. This article traces the history of LED lighting in three main stages from the discoverers to the world revolution of LED lighting, passing through the passage to the commercial stage of LEDs as indicator lights. Through the history of LED lighting, this article also carries a useful reflection in the fields of research in general, theoretical or experimental, where work constitutes the fundamental pillar but where to keep a vigilant, aware, attentive and curious gaze on fortuitous discoveries made on the margins of research subjects is also very important.