Spark: The Life of Electricity and the Electricity of Life

Timothy J. Jorgensen

Published by Princeton University Press 2021

Spark

The Life of Electricity and the Electricity of Life

Timothy J. Jorgensen

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691232652

Overview
Contents

About this book

A fresh look at electricity and its powerful role in life on Earth

When we think of electricity, we likely imagine the energy humming inside our home appliances or lighting up our electronic devices—or perhaps we envision the lightning-streaked clouds of a stormy sky. But electricity is more than an external source of power, heat, or illumination. Life at its essence is nothing if not electrical.

The story of how we came to understand electricity’s essential role in all life is rooted in our observations of its influences on the body—influences governed by the body’s central nervous system. Spark explains the science of electricity from this fresh, biological perspective. Through vivid tales of scientists and individuals—from Benjamin Franklin to Elon Musk—Timothy Jorgensen shows how our views of electricity and the nervous system evolved in tandem, and how progress in one area enabled advancements in the other. He explains how these developments have allowed us to understand—and replicate—the ways electricity enables the body’s essential functions of sight, hearing, touch, and movement itself.

Throughout, Jorgensen examines our fascination with electricity and how it can help or harm us. He explores a broad range of topics and events, including the Nobel Prize–winning discoveries of the electron and neuron, the history of experimentation involving electricity’s effects on the body, and recent breakthroughs in the use of electricity to treat disease.

Filled with gripping adventures in scientific exploration, Spark offers an indispensable look at electricity, how it works, and how it animates our lives from within and without.

Author / Editor information

Timothy J. Jorgensen is professor of radiation medicine and codirector of the Medical Physics Graduate Program at Georgetown University. He is the author of the award-winning book Strange Glow: The Story of Radiation (Princeton). He lives in Rockville, Maryland. Twitter @Tim_Jorgensen

Reviews

“Ranging from lightning to puffer fish and beyond, this engrossing and innovative book describes electricity’s connection with biology and tells the exciting stories of the people who revealed our present-day understanding of this mysterious substance.”—Roger C. Barr, coauthor of Bioelectricity: A Quantitative Approach

"A fascinating biomedical approach to the history of knowledge about electricity and its future uses."---E. J. Delaney, Choice

"Jorgensen weaves together tales of serendipitous revelations, strange misconceptions, and emerging understandings, showing how the ancients’ first impression of electricity’s animating role has been borne out by the discoveries of modern neuroscience."---Laurence A. Marschall, Natural History

"A fascinating history of humanity’s gradual understanding of electricity. . . . Jorgensen’s study is full of entertaining details, and his passion is evident . . . The result is a sparkling reminder of the strange wonders of life."

"[A] chatty, wide-ranging tour of electricity’s role in biology and medicine."---Jerome Groopman, The New Yorker

"[A] remarkably diverse story . . . full of vitality."---Andrew Robinson, Lancet

"Finalist for the PROSE Award in Popular Science and Popular Mathematics, Association of American Publishers"

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface: Current Events Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
1 Sparks Will Fly: Static Electricity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2 Shocking Developments: Animal Electricity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	22
3 Bolt from the Blue: Lightning Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
4 For All That Ails You: Electrotherapy Machines Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	60
5 A Circuitous Route: The Battery Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	87
6 Jolted Back to Reality: Electrocution Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	106
7 A Field Day: Alternating Current and Lines of Force Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	134
8 Zombie Fish: Electric Force Fields Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	162
9 Crookes of the Matter: The Electron Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
10 Redbud: The Neuron Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205
11 Zombie People: Voltage-Gated Channels Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	225
12 The Wanderer: Nerve Fibers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	245
13 Crossed Circuits: Neuroprosthetic Limbs Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	267
14 Sounds of Silence: Sensory Neurological Implants Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	293
15 Inner Sanctum: The Brain Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	319
16 Future Shock: Artificial Intelligence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	348
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	369
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	371
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	403
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	415