Electric Universe: How Electricity Switched on the Modern World Audiobook

" You could probably find a better history of the subject than this one, although it is a very quick read and provides some interesting information. The story of how Alexander Graham Bell came to invent the telephone really is wonderful. The experiments of Heinrich Hertz are certainly worth reading about. The story of James Watson Watt inventing the radar during WWII is fascinating, and Bodanis gets credit for including a passage about the bombing of Dresden (see Slaughterhouse Five) in order to show the dark side of the technological progress his book is often championing. All in all, the book kind of barrels through a history that has so many fascinating detours it deserves a more epic treatment. "

" An appealing science book for someone interested but largely ignorant in science. It teaches the theory of electricity by giving equal time to personalities and social context. The narrator has a reassuring and soft voice, not unlike being lectured by Winnie the Pooh. I wish I'd read this when I was twelve or so. "

" Bodanis seems to have become a guarantee for entertaining popular science "

" Was not a great history of electricity. For whatever reason, Bodanis started the book with Samuel Morse's alleged theft of the telegraph from Joseph Henry, skipping over Volta, Galvani, Franklin, and various other milestones in electrical History. In general the book was rather awkwardly arranged, written in a bland manner. Though I did enjoy the re-imagining of the invention of the phone as the way to win the heart of Alexander Graham Bell's deaf lover, the book as a whole was a rather awkward history which sometimes read as sanctimonious judgment. "

" Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I read and loved a nonfiction book about electricity. I heard David Bodanis on NPR and ran out the next day to get this from the library. "

" [Audio] Kind of a "history of electricity" that explores electricity's current place in our lives by offering brief biographies of key researchers and entrepreneurs that harnessed electricity over the last 200 some years. Interesting look at researching spirit--and the very human-ness of these pioneers--in the advancement of electrical technology. "

" Bodanis is one of my favorite authors. He brings the human side to science. Interesting anecdotes - especially from the late 1800's to early 1900's. My only criticism is . . . why wasn't this book twice as long? "

" A fascinating, understandable book about the ways (often surprising) that electricity, in its many permutations, rules the world. Bodanis has the ability to be selective about what he includes, to vary the pacing, change the mood and generally entertain while enlightening. "

" Cute, but most of its strength is in its anecdotes about the people I already know and love. "

" I gobbled this up so fast that I could have gotten quite a large shock. Bodanis is truly gifted in describing, exploring, and explaining the wonder and the science and the history of electricity. "

" Great book! I expected a history of electricity only. Ended up learning about radar, computers, WWII and the human brain. This book could have twice the size. I didn't appreciate the from diaries though. That really got boring and wasn't relevant. "

" exciting take on electricity. "

" The personal accounts really undulated from interesting to stone cold boring. I probably would have liked a little more science at the expense of some of the personal stuff. "

" Got a charge out of this one! "

" a good primer for the history of the development for electricity and gives a basic understanding of how electricity works. "

" The story/history of electricity, or at least its discovery and utilization by our society. Very intriguing. Was not dry in the least, amazingly. Lots of detailed info without being overwhelming. "

" I thought this was a really great overview on the history of electricity, the discoverers and innovators who helped shape today's technology. This is a very basic view on the subject, but very accessible and informative. "

" A brilliant little book based on a wealth of scholarship. "

" great. informative and very entertaining. "

" I gobbled this up so fast that I could have gotten quite a large shock. Bodanis is truly gifted in describing, exploring, and explaining the wonder and the science and the history of electricity. "

" a good primer for the history of the development for electricity and gives a basic understanding of how electricity works. "

" A fantastic look at the modern history of electricity, highlighting stories of the people behind the telephone, light bulb, radio, radar and more. Bodanis finishes with a look at life and how we use electricity within our own bodies. "

" A fascinating, understandable book about the ways (often surprising) that electricity, in its many permutations, rules the world. Bodanis has the ability to be selective about what he includes, to vary the pacing, change the mood and generally entertain while enlightening. "

" An amazingly clear layout of how we've stumbled across all the great finds in the history of electricity. "

" This book is outstanding if you are interested in electricity. Fantastic! "

" The story/history of electricity, or at least its discovery and utilization by our society. Very intriguing. Was not dry in the least, amazingly. Lots of detailed info without being overwhelming. "

" The personal accounts really undulated from interesting to stone cold boring. I probably would have liked a little more science at the expense of some of the personal stuff. "

" Really cool history of modernity told through breakthroughs in electricity. Also highlighted the somewhat sad ends that great innovators such as Alan Turing met. Left me with tons of fun facts for dinner parties. "