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In his bestselling E=mc2, David Bodanis
led us, with astonishing ease, through the world's most
famous equation. Now, in Electric Universe, he illuminates
the wondrous yet invisible force that permeates our universe
-- 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.
A superb storyteller, Bodanis weaves tales
of romance, divine inspiration, and fraud through lucid
accounts of scientific breakthroughs. 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 by a master science writer.
David Bodanis taught a survey of intellectual
history at the University of Oxford for many years. He is
the author of several books, including The Secret House
and the bestselling E=mc2, which was translated into
more than twenty languages. A native of Chicago, he lives
in London. His website can be found at davidbodanis.com.
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