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

Carrie L. Bell,Michael B. Schiffer

ISBN 10: 0520238028 / ISBN 13: 9780520238022

Published by University of California Press, 2003

About this Item

Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!

Seller Inventory # S_479167601

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Draw the Lightning Down: Benjamin Franklin and Electrical Technology in the Age of Enlightenment
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0520238028
• ISBN 13: 9780520238022
• Binding: hardcover
• 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).