In this chapter, several aspects of the subject matter of this book are discussed. First we will consider the question why the outdoor areas are lit. In the 20th century, the technology allowed it, and the 24/7-economy required it. Its roots are in the idea in many people that Light is Good, and that Dark is Evil. However, removing darkness from the world did mean at the same time that the starry night became invisible, with unknown but probably serious consequences for people’s self-esteem. Detail of these considerations are given in a separate book that is in some sense is parallel to this one.
A second item of this chapter is the function of outdoor lighting, more in particular of road lighting. Two ways to consider the function of road lighting results in two different priorities of the lighting quality criteria. The first is the detection of small objects on the road, the other is the driving task that describes what is necessary to reach the destination of a trip.
A third item is a brief description of some tools that are frequently used in the design and the assessment of outdoor lighting, viz.: models; ‘quick-and-dirty’ statistics, and scales.
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(2008). Introduction: The function of outdoor lighting. In: Outdoor Lighting: Physics, Vision and Perception. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8602-1_1
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