Can anyone point me to any good books or sites that have extensive LED history and show the basics of how they work. Any help would be greatly appreciated
Don Klipstein's site on http://www.misty.com is a mine of information on all kinds of lighting from edison bulbs to LED's.
Ten there's the LED museum hosted by CPF's own Craig Johnson. Links can be found on most topics on this forum. It's also a great resource on torches that use LEd's too.