Draw the Ligntning down : Benjamin Franklin and Electrical Technology in the Age of Enlightenment - Hardcover

Schiffer, Michael-Brian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0520238028 ISBN 13: 9780520238022

Verlag: University of California Press, 2003

Inhaltsangabe

SCHIFFER, M. B. DRAW THE LIGHTNING DOWN. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND ELECTRICAL TECHNOLOGY IN THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT. BERKELEY, CA, 2003, xiv 383 p.,figuras. Encuadernacion original. Nuevo.

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Críticas

"Many historians have discussed early electrical instruments, but this is the most comprehensive account of the enormous variety of devices developed during this period. With the help of numerous illustrations, Schiffer clearly explains how they worked and what they were for."--"Times Literary Supplement (tls)"

Reseña del editor

Most of us know--at least we've heard--that Benjamin Franklin conducted some kind of electrical experiment with a kite. What few of us realize--and what this book makes powerfully clear--is that Franklin played a major role in laying the foundations of modern electrical science and technology. This fast-paced book, rich with historical details and anecdotes, brings to life Franklin, the large international network of scientists and inventors in which he played a key role, and their amazing inventions. We learn what these early electrical devices--from lights and motors to musical and medical instruments--looked like, how they worked, and what their utilitarian and symbolic meanings were for those who invented and used them. Against the fascinating panorama of life in the eighteenth century, Michael Brian Schiffer tells the story of the very beginnings of our modern electrical world. The earliest electrical technologies were conceived in the laboratory apparatus of physicists; because of their surprising and diverse effects, however, these technologies rapidly made their way into many other communities and activities. Schiffer conducts us from community to community, showing how these technologies worked as they were put to use in public lectures, revolutionary experiments in chemistry and biology, and medical therapy. This story brings to light the arcane and long-forgotten inventions that made way for many modern technologies--including lightning rods (Franklin's invention), cardiac stimulation, xerography, and the internal combustion engine--and richly conveys the complex relationships among science, technology, and culture.

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: University of California Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0520238028
• ISBN 13: 9780520238022
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Anzahl der Seiten: 397