Electric Universe

How Electricity Switched on the Modern World

By: David Bodanis

Narrated by: Del Roy

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 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.©2005 David Bodanis; (P)2005 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Hugely impressive. No one makes complex science more fascinating and accessible—and indeed more pleasurable—than David Bodanis.” —Bill Bryson, author of A Short History of Nearly Everything and A Walk in the Woods

“Bodanis wears his immense knowledge lightly. His crystal-clear explanations of everything from force fields under the Atlantic to GPS satellites combine with a flair for narrative and an eagle eye for obscure facts (where else can you learn that antidepressants turn into liquid electricity when swallowed?) to provide an intriguing account of how the wonders of electricity have transformed our world.” —Ross King, author of Brunelleschi’s Dome and Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling

“Electric Universe is a technological odyssey complete with heroes and villains, triumph and tragedy—a true scientific adventure.” —Simon Singh, author of Fermat’s Enigma and Big Bang

Go Ahead, Plug In

Given the number of medium to bad reviews here, I thought I'd throw in my "plug." Since I never use audiobooks for scholarly reference, I am not as concerned about accuracy as I might be reviewing a printed text. While the points on accuracy or oversimplification made by some of the reviewers here are well taken, they didn't affect my pleasure in the work, which I thought an excellent audiobook. The writing is quite good and intelligent, at a good pace for audio, so even the author's digressive flights of fancy on the social effects of the transistor, for example, are enjoyable, imaginative riffs. The history of electricity presented here is periodic and a bit quirky, not at all comprehensive. Each episode centers on one or two historical figures and their advancement of electrical knowledge, from Volta to Turing, from telegraph and radar, up to microchips and synapses. The stories are well-told and I actually appreciate the "oversimplified," Dickensian manner in which the author paints his characters in moral hues as villains (Morse, Shockley, etc.) or heroes (Faraday, Turing, etc.) I knew nothing about the topic, so learned much, listened to most chapters twice, and was inspired (or perhaps embarrassed) into learning a bit more about electricity, which is, after all, the deity underlying our modern social structure. Overall, very good audiobook. The reader is good--pleasantly, gruffly avuncular. If you don't know much about electricity I believe you'll like it and learn.

easy to digest

I just finished this book in 2 days i was hooked. Its amazing to think about how immersed we are electricity and how new it is to us. I highly recommend to anyone interested in how things work

Good broad review of the history of electricity

Good overall review of the history of electricity. However, I agree with another reviewer here. The total and absolute omission of the contributions of Nikola Tesla is like writing a history of astronomy and leaving out discussion of Galileo. The author Bodanis obviously has such a prejudice and bias against Tesla, that the omission is like an elephant in the room that he doesn't want to talk about. It makes me leery of the author's other assertions, such as:

1) the assertion that Samuel Morse stole the idea of the telegraph from Joseph Henry, a professor at Princeton

2) the assertion that Edison was a villain without a conscience who was hired by Western Union as a 'patent-breaker' in order to crush Alexander Graham Bell's telephone patents;

3) the claim that Marconi invented radio all by himself, leaving out discussion of Tesla; and the Supreme Court rulings that revoked Marconi's patents in favor of Tesla's

4) the claim that Shockley stole the idea of semi-conductors from his assistants;

According to Bodanis, the whole history of electricity is full of back-stabbers, cheaters, patent-villains, liars, and thieves. While this may be true, the author should have given a more neutral presentation. I enjoy hearing both sides of a story.

But overall, Bodanis does explain with vivid imagery how electricity and radio waves work, so simply put that even a layman can understand it. Just be aware of the author's personal and blatant biases in this work. This book will lead me to double-check the history facts presented by Bodanis.

The story-like experience of the book

There wasn’t much to dislike I’m um um um um um um um um um um um

Oversimplified

This well researched book added much human interest and background to many of the scientific and technological developments behind electricity and electronics. The author's overzealous attempts to simplify generated too many totally inappropriate analogies and lead me to suspect that neither the author nor the editor ever took even high school physics. Nonetheless, I learned much from the book and even more from following up on interesting leads mentioned in the book or omitted from the book (e.g. De Forest's invention of the vacuum tube).