Centuries ago life on earth saw daytime (diurnal) and night-time (nocturnal) activities almost totally influenced by the availability of daylight and any artificial means of illuminating an environment would perhaps never have been contemplated. Early lighting came about almost by accident and the primary raison d’être of primordial fires was arguably not for lighting. Surely in those bygone days no one could conceivably have imagined just how artificial light sources per se would develop to the levels that we have come to take for granted in today’s high-speed, hightech world. An insight into the history of lamps and lighting takes us on a mystical, almost magical and certainly fascinating journey of discovery and awakening.