Electric Universe: How Electricity Switched on the Modern World-Fast Shipping

Description

The bestselling author of E=mc2 weaves tales of romance, divine inspiration, and fraudthrough an account of the invisible force that permeates ouruniverse

—electricity—and introduces us to the virtuososcientists who plumbed its secrets.

For centuries, electricity was seen as littlemore than a curious property of certain substances that sparked when rubbed. Then,in the 1790s, Alessandro Volta began the scientific investigation that ignited anexplosion of knowledge and invention. The force that once seemed inconsequentialwas revealed to be responsible for everything from the structure of the atom to thefunctioning of our brains. In harnessing its power, we have created a world of wonders—completewith roller coasters and radar, computer networks and psychopharmaceuticals.

In Electric Universe, the great discoverers come to life inall their brilliance and idiosyncrasy, including the visionary Michael Faraday, whostruggled against the prejudices of the British class system, and Samuel Morse, apainter who, before inventing the telegraph, ran for mayor of New York City on aplatform of persecuting Catholics. Here too is Alan Turing, whose dream of a marvelousthinking machine—what we know as the computer—was met with indifference, and whoended his life in despair after British authorities forced him to undergo experimentaltreatments to “cure” his homosexuality.

From the frigid waters of the Atlantic tothe streets of Hamburg during a World War II firestorm to the interior of the humanbody, Electric Universe is a mesmerizing journey of discovery.