Electric universe - David Bodanis

The bestselling author of E=mc2weaves tales of romance, divine inspiration, and fraud
through an account ofthe invisible force that permeates our
universe-electricity-and introduces us to the virtuoso
scientists who plumbed its secrets.

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

In Electric Universe, the great discoverers come to life in
all their brilliance and idiosyncrasy, including the visionary Michael Faraday, who
struggled against the prejudices of the British class system, and Samuel Morse, a
painter who, before inventing the telegraph, ran for mayor of New York City on a
platform of persecuting Catholics. Here too is Alan Turing, whose dream of a marvelous
thinking machine-what we know as the computer-was met with indifference, and who
ended his life in despair after British authorities forced him to undergo experimental
treatments to "cure" his homosexuality.

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