Draw the Lightning Down: Benjamin Franklin and Electrical Technology in the Age of Enlightenment

Schiffer, Michael Brian Michael Brian Schiffer,

ISBN 10: 0520248295 / ISBN 13: 9780520248298

Published by University of California Press, 2010

About this Item

Draw the Lightning Down: Benjamin Franklin and Electrical Technology in the Age of Enlightenment This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. .

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Draw the Lightning Down: Benjamin Franklin and Electrical Technology in the Age of Enlightenment
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0520248295
• ISBN 13: 9780520248298
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

Michael Brian Schiffer is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arizona. His many books include The Material Life of Human Beings (1999), Taking Charge: The Electric Automobile in America (1994), Technological Perspectives on Behavioral Change (1992), and The Portable Radio in American Life (1991).