Electric Universe: The Shocking True Story of Electricity

by David Bodanis

Book Overview

The bestselling author of E=mc2 weaves tales of romance, divine inspiration, and fraud through an account of the invisible force that permeates our universe--electricity--and introduces us to the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400045509
• ISBN13: 9781400045501
• Release Date: February 2005
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 308 Pages
• Weight: 1.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.8" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Very user friendly intro science book

I read the comment from they guy saying this book is misleading. But honestly I think it was a good way to get introduced so many different topics in such a short period of time. I would realise that I never really knew how that worked, then I would go deep dive into studies and videos that had more detail. It was extremely friendly being introduced to these topics in such a casual way and I believe this book is a very useful tool.

Pseudo Science - on par with "Flat Earth", "Ancient Aliens" and "Crystal Energy".

As a geologist I can tell you that this is utter nonsense. Its pseudo science and not far from "Flat Earth" theory. Its a shame that this trash is being passed around. EU is almost a cult. They deny demonstrable reality and substitute this amusing fiction. Its easy to mislead people with a smooth argument full of fallacies, if the audience doesnt know the details. This book is trash..

Very Satisfied

My 14 year old son had to read this for school. In his words, it took what he thought was going to be a dull subject and made it interesting with all the stories and examples. He actually enjoyed it.

A Good Read

This book is very interesting. Its a good attempt at tracing electricity from its dormat beginnings in human history through to its explosion as a major tool in everyday life. Of coarse some pieces are left out, but Bondais has made a very good attempt with his rendition of the story. Its also interesting how he fits in the human aspect of the story of electricity. Scientists, including an ancestor of mine, have their own positve and negative effects on electricity's 'discovery' eventually harnassing its power into what we recognize today.

General audiences will benefit from this - experts won't

David Bodanis is one of the more skilled lay science writers around. His "E=mc2" is a brilliant exposition of Einstein's theories that a layperson can easily grasp. A trained physicist might laugh at Bodanis's expositions, but a general reader might gasp in astonishment as he realizes that he is getting it . . . he is understanding what the great Einsten theorized! That is the beauty of Bodanis: yes he waters down the science, but he makes it accessible and that is a glorious thing. Here, Bodanis turns his attention to electricity, "the invisible force that permeates our universe" and tries to make it understandable. He does an excellent job and I personally wish that his books were required for teen readers who might be led to consider careers in science and technology. Bodanis has received substantial criticism for not including a number of major figures in the theoretical and commercial development of electricity, such as Tesla. The critics have a point, but not necessarily a very strong one. Bodanis's goal is not authoring a complete history, but rather educating the lay reader in the basics. And this he does extremely well. He does it with stories of significant points where the nature, potential and application of electricity were discovered and applied. For example, he compares and contrasts the Henry and Morse, both of whom contributed in their own ways to the development of the telegraph. He spends a good deal of time on the development and implementation of radar. He demystifies the operation of electricity in all living things. He broadly deals with the intricacies of computing theory, the development of the transistor and other subjects as well. On the whole, he educates in a painless and broad way. His goals are not to create a masterly text or cover every person who contributed to the development and practice of electricity, but to educate the masses who may know surprisingly little or nothing. And this goal he accomplishes wonderfully well. Bodanis keeps what might be a dry, mystifying subject interesting and entertaining. As I said, this book and others like should be given to bright teens: it's the kind of book that may awaken an interest and shape a life. Jerry

What a wonderfully literate book on the science of electricity...

I wish I had had this book years ago, but then I am not sure I could have appreciated not only the science in this book, but the extremely well-written format that Bodanis uses. It's funny, I started out being interested in biology especially as it is used in the human body; and more intricately, in the human brain. When I got to college the second time around...I insisted on being placed in biology, though the idiot advisor told me a deaf person could not possibly achieve anything there. Couple of years later I changed to neuroscience, which along with all my chemistry and physics classes introduced me to electricity. I remember thinking that all this information in these classes seemed so similar. Electricity seemed to run everything. But no one seemed able to recognize this one general idea. Electricity runs through insulated cables to deliver electric ions and charges to various equipment in our homes, just as electric charges run through our insulated neurons (insulated by Schwann cell's which when degenerate cause diseases like MS and muscular dystrophy). Same ideas, different means of accomplishing basically the same thing, and at increasingly faster speeds. All of this combined with information about artificial intelligence and computers, led me to the conclusion that one of the basic blocks that lay between a computer being as capable as a brain is the inability of a computer to adapt its electrical problems in the way the brain does. If a person cannot hear, the brain is capable of rearranging itself to accommodate. They've found in MRIs that the normal areas in the brain used for aural (sound) abilities, change in people who are born deaf to adjust to those things they can do and do well, such as sight. An epileptic whose brain needs to be surgically removed in parts, can often adapt by using the remaining brains for the tasks usually alloted to that part of the brain removed. Bodanis writes a clear and significant book, that I would and will gladly recommend to my students so they can understand the relationship between electricity and so much else in the world. Finally, someone put into lucid words the very things I've been thinking for years. Not only is the book fun to read, but Bodanis gives more cool information in the back including on those people he had talked about in his text. The cute little story about Alexander Graham Bell and his wife trying out his new hydrofoil in their old age in Nova Scotia, changed my view of Bell (he was a problem for the deaf in that he supported eugenics, but was very naive about what he was supporting...) Great trivia in the index which is always enjoyable in a book. I cannot emphasize how much I enjoy this book! Karen Sadler Chemistry Science Education CCAC

Great book for home schooling or light scientific reading

"Electric Universe" is not a major text on the history and science of electricity but it is a very enjoyable romp through the amazing story of the science that powers our everyday life. Author David Bodanis starts with a debacle: the power goes out and here's how your life is going to be affected. No phones, no traffic lights, hospitals are unable to do an x-ray or refrigerate blood supplies. Food rots, there is little surplus. Public transportation is gone, air traffic control and train switching is crippled. That's enough to get anyone's attention. Then the author tells us some other shocking information; Samuel Morse didn't REALLY invent the telegraph. There was a lot of the history about the famous scientists I didn't know, which is surprising as my own dad, an engineer, would tell stories about Nicolai Tesla at the dinner table to get us kids interested in science. I recommend this book for the science-phobic because it's people-oriented and tells the history of electricity in the way you'd tell a story. It's a great book to add to a home-schooler's library. It would make great reading for a family evening at home, if you read to your kids. This book, while not deep, makes a great introduction to physics and is a quick, enjoyable book for anyone.