The Battery: How Portable Power Sparked a Technological Revolution

By Henry Schlesinger and Henry R. Schlesinger

Book Overview

"Henry Schlesinger is playful and intelligent and obscenely well read." -- Richard Zacks, author of The Pirate Hunter

"Henry Schlesinger's fascinating and superbly researched history of the battery is the story of civilization as we know it." -- Michael Belfiore, author of The Department of Mad Scientists

Henry Schlesinger's The Battery is the first popular history of the technology that harnessed electricity and powered the greatest scientific and technological advances of our time. If you like Wired Magazine and popular science books, you'll love the "hidden history" of The Battery.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061442941
• ISBN13: 9780061442940
• Release Date: April 2011
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Book wets your whistle for techno-history.

You can only say so much about batteries. But if it can be said, it is in this book. There is a disclaimer that apologizes if something was missed. I did not miss anything. The book starts with a fundamental history of the discovery of electricity. Then we cover several fields that focus on the use of electricity. Slowly, batteries are introduced as they start to come of age. Then, how they are used and will be used. I had great fun, as it was not the battery (this is not a technical how-to book) but the peripheral information that I found fun and fascinating. How companies got their names. The chapter's introductory statements made me want to look up all the people who made them. Sketches and pictures added to the understanding. I used to listen to Wolfman Jack on my transistor radio. Still have my Pulsar Watch (take two hands to display). I had a crystal radio set. Had several Heath kits (including my first CRT terminal). It was like going down memory lane. The selected bibliography is perfect for future reading. Speaking of future reading, I need to go back through this book because I forgot a lot of the names. There may be new ones. Publication date: April 13, 2011. I am one of those double-dippers, buying the Kindle version to listen to while at work and the hard copy to re-read and keep on the library shelf. Evidently, electronic books, though convenient, do not save me money or space.