On September 16, 1878, he announced in an article in the New York Sun “By the process which I have discovered, I can produce one thousand—yes, ten thousand—[lamps] by one machine. In fact, the number can be said to be infinite." He also claimed to have achieved this through an entirely different process (Israel, 168). This was a plan to replace gaslight with distributed electricity generation underground, similar to the gaslight process (Israel, 168-167). With the project that Edison was building, he could light up the entire city using a single generator. While creating the generator, he proceeds to experiment with the correct shape for his bulbs. He improved his light bulbs to reduce radiating surface area and increase resistance by using very thin wire filaments wound into tight spirals, coated with nonconductive material to prevent the spirals from touching and shorting (Israel, 172). With the progress of his work, Thomas Edison is able to successfully design the electric generator that would help spread to the suburbs and light up the state and cities.