Para quem quer começar os estudos em eletricidade. Quase um romance. Com fontes no final para aprofundamento. Alguns reclamaram por ele não citar Tesla, mas acho que não fez muita diferença.

I love the backstory behind all these electric scientific achievements. The trans-Atlantic cable is extremely interesting, setbacks notwithstanding, and I could go on about the importance of good coaxial cable... but I won't.
DO enjoy this book.
I would definitely read again.

Loved it.

Excellent overview of all things electrical - from the telegraph to the human brain. We learn more about the inventors we thought we knew and discover the inventors who inspired them. Throughout it all, there are enough heroes and villains for several books.

Interesting story about how electricity was introduced and changed the world.

Very accessible book on the history and workings of electricity.

When I read Electric Universe by David Bodanis, I was surprised the whole way through at how new and good it was. I picked it up at one of my favorite bookstores in Chicago, Market Fresh Books in Little Italy, second-hand.

I’m a guy who’s read a lot of popular accounts on the developments of science, and know all the progress of quantum physics and relativity real well at this point. Those stories are more common. I’d never read a full popular account on the history and development of electricity, though, and how it changed the world in so many ways. But I’m sure glad I did.

I have to say, while I think all science-progress-history-etc stories are pretty interesting from a humanist standpoint, I didn’t expect electricity’s story to be this interesting. It was really… shocking, you might say, how huge of an effect it’s had through the years. Not something I’ve ever really consciously thought about before, for some reason. But it truly changed the world in every way.

This book wasn’t just great because of those histories, though. It was great because of the storytelling. I was amazed by how well David Bodanis could weave such an interesting and mesmerizing thread through these scientist’s adventures throughout the centuries, and to say that it kept my attention is an understatement. It was a real page-turner.

I almost wonder if the history was diluted a bit just for the sake of the stories, but there was so much fact backing up most of it that I’d doubt it. I believe that Mr. Bodanis’ great tone and voice as a writer just helped that much.

It’s hard to choose my favorite part, but I think the story I enjoyed most from Electric Universe was how the invention of radar turned the tide of battle one way and another in World War II. First for the Allies, then the Axis, then back to the Allies after secret raids I’d never heard about before. I enjoy some good WWII history, so WWII history + experimental science is just great.

I’d definitely recommend this book. Thrilling from front to back, and I even stayed up late to keep reading it. Learned a lot of great facts from it too, and even loaned it to my mother – she liked it too. Definitely check this book out if you get a chance.

This was a fun, albeit brief, trip through the history of our present understanding of electricity. I would not suggest this for anyone that is looking for the meat and potatoes of understanding electricity, but more for someone that would like to understand more about the people that helped create our modern understanding and use of it.

All in all it was an entertaining read and I would suggest it.

This book charts the history of electricity from its discovery to the current day. It shows how, along the way, the understanding of the nature of electricity grew from a stream of electrons gushing through a wire to the current perception of it. For each stage, Bodanis, the author, gives amusing accounts of the lives and motivations of the scientists involved, how they furthered contemporary understanding, the related inventions and their impact on society at the time.

Bodanis' style is humorous and the book unfolds like a well-developed fiction plot, always keeping the reader itching to find out what happens next. It is no textbook, and written for a general audience. As such, no previous physics background is necessary. However, in keeping the book accessible to a larger public, Bodanis skips quickly over details, so those who do have some background and want to gain an insight into the discoveries might be left a little frustrated.

All in all, it is an enjoyable book which keeps you hooked from start to finish like a fiction novel. There is hardly any kind of reader to whom I would not recommend it!

This was a really good book on the history of electrisity which i strongly recommend for those who are interested in electrisity and science. The book makes you want to learn more about all kinds of different aspects of elect... but also about World War 2 and history in general.

Decent introduction to some of the history of electricity, but has some glaring faults. Almost rating it two stars because of them. His explanations of concepts vary from well done to "wow that's a bad way to explain it" but mainly there's an absence of any talk about DC and AC current, it's not mentioned once, nor is Tesla. Not even in passing, or anything on resistors, capacitors... I was surprised that a brief history of electricity wouldn't mention at least the different currents. Also he mentions Sleeping Beauty as a Disney film involving falling asleep because of a poison apple. Come on, his research or editors should have at least caught that error.

Poorly structured story with no plot, writers or scientific. The characters are sidetracked by the amount of insignificant details and on the other side with no details at all. Insignificant details are also a part of unverified facts of the urban myths described in the book. The story is jumping from one person to another, one period to other, with no chronology, shattered all over the place, and from one relationship to other intertwined with unimportant trivial details.

But I wasn´t expecting a writers genius or some cataclysmic change being a popular science writing. Big minus for not mentioning N.Tesla. What is his next project writing a book about evolution and not mentioning Darwin?

They were some interesting facts about electricity and science so I give it a **.