American Philosophical Society. 2009. New, unread, book. Contains the Presentation:"To Roger Stuewer, with thanks and best wishes, David Rhees, November 4th, 2009". Also contains a note card from the Bakken Museum and copy of an email with thanks from Davis Rhees. From the library of Prof. Roger Stuewer, historian of physics, UMN. Presentation: "To Roger Stuewer, with thanks and best wishes, David Rhees, November 4th, 2009".

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Bibliographic Details

Title: Playing With Fire: Histories of the Lightning Rod (Transactions of the American Philosophical Society)
Publisher: American Philosophical Society
Publication Date: 2009
Language: English
ISBN 10: 1606189956
ISBN 13: 9781606189955
Binding: Paperback
Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

This collection of historical and scientific studies shows the impressive significance of the invention, development, and use of the lightning rod in the past 250 years.The rod was a device long taken to be a symbol of enlightenment and utility, judged by some commentators the very first practical application of the experimental physical sciences to truly practical ends; opposition to its introduction was similarly taken to be a sign of obscurantism and superstition.These essays move beyond the lightning rods storied revolutionary symbolism to skillfully explore the range of techniques, experiments, and publics that fashioned conductors and their varied meanings across time and space. The superbly illustrated studies demonstrate just how contested, puzzling and dangerous these devices often proved among early experimenters and their audiences. An intriguing and entertaining secret history of one of modernity s most cherished technoscientific objects. Illustrations.

About the Author

Peter Heering is Professor of Physics and Physics Didaclics at the Universiat Flensburg. Oliver Hochadel is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. David Rhees is Executive Director of the Bakken Museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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Mythos Center Books is a research archive connected with Mythos Center, specializing in the areas of folklore, mythology, comparative religions, psychology, sociology, and depth psychology. Established 1990. Please send us with your want lists in these fields. As of 2025, we are dispersing the Mythos Center research collection.

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