I read the author's first book, E=mc2 a couple of weeks ago, and I loved it! I was excited to walk up to the library and pick this book up. Sadly, it's not as great as I would have hoped. The information is well presented and Bodanis does an excellent job by keeping electromagnetism exciting, but it still reads somewhat flat. The chapter on Heinrich Hertz was particularly disappointing because the author acts more like an editor than a writer: diary excerpts and news-bites comprise the entire chapter!

If you're into science, and were ever curious about exactly what a Watt is, and how it relates to horsepower; or if you're curious about the electrical impulses in your eye--check this book out, and just read out the rough spots. It is worth reading.

The discussion about electricity in our brains was a pleasant surprise. The author went into anatomical detail about methods that the body converts molecules into electricity used by neurons. You can tell that the author is inspired by the billions of years of evolution that has perfected this method, and the author emphasizes how it trumphs any electric generation created by man. It was a great way to end a book on such fascinating subject.

Boken får fyra stjärnor dels för att författaren nästan lyckas göra ämnet till en spänningsroman, dels för att vara såpass bred (boken slutar med neuroelektricitet) samt att författaren också lyckas beskriva personerna bakom upptäckterna. Men emellanåt är den dåligt skriven och eller dåligt översatt. För den som vill bli mer kunnig om det fysikaliska fenomenet elektricitet endast bör läsa en annan bok.

I didn't realize this was an abridgment; I'm loath to select those since I don't want to miss out on everything the author wanted to communicate.

This was an OK book about electricity, but it wound up going somewhat far afield by the end, and five days on, I can't remember what the deviation was. Mr. Bodanis did touch upon the impact of Thomas Alva Edison in electrifying the nation and the world, but I felt that "The Last Days of Night" handled it better.

My rough criterion for non-fiction books is whether I'd really like to purchase the book itself (as I am reading from the public library) to have as a return-to reference. "Electric Universe" does not make that cut.

Some of my friends just had a transformer explode outside of their apartment, sending vast quantities of extra electricity back into their house, causing lights to explode and wall plugs to be surrounded by a fiery black halo of soot.

This book helped me understand what was going on a little better. David Bodanis makes the history of electricity discovery and growth eminently understandable, stopping along the way to introduce readers to Watt, Volta, Marconi, Edison, Herz, Bell, and other famed scientists, some I knew, and others I came to know.

I liked the blend of science know-how and history, especially.

This could have been a lot better, or at least it wasn’t what I was expecting. Each chapter is another vignette about another inventor or scientist who makes some kind of discovery or innovation to further our use and understanding of electricity itself. It’s very anecdotal and plays into the people and characters involved along the way. Could have been written in a more engaging style, overall it was OK.

Nice overview of the history of electricity. Interesting to see how our fundamental understanding of electrons led to new technologies.

An extremely useful and fascinating history outlining the discovery of how electricity works and the men (it was men) who figured out how to harness its power. Watt, Volta, Ampere, Bell, Hertz, Morse and Faraday all get their moments to shine like an Edison bulb while less well remembered heroes who deserve to be household names including Joseph (Telegraph) Henry, Cyrus (Transatlantic Cable) Field and Robert Watson (Radar) Watt - yes, a direct descendant of the kettle lid observer - get dedicated chapters describing their own triumphs and disasters. There’s a useful primer on nerve conduction and a tribute to the work of Alan Turing for whom the semi-conductors of Brattain and Bardeen’s triumph in Silicon Valley came a few years too late.
The notes at the end add more detail and the recommended further reading list is excellent.
I too am not sure why Tesla doesn’t merit a mention - it was probably an accidental Ohmission.

Allmänbildning för ingenjörsstudenten.

Pros: kortfattad, lättförståelig, anekdottung
Cons: Nikola Tesla ej nämnd, ganska mycket info om elektriciteten i människokroppen SNARK (ingen ingenjör värd namnet har väl någonsin brytt sig om en så banal sak som människans fysik?).

Denna bok rekommenderas till alla som har eller kommer läsa fysik vid högre utbildning. Om man läser denna bok har man flera år av fun-facts och lättförståeliga spännnande naturvetenskapliga anekdoter att berätta såväl till lekmän som jämnlikar.

Fun facts och anekdoter att komma ihåg:
- Watt den uttråkade meterologen som uppfann radarn av tristess och räddade England från tysken
- Alexander Bell som uppfann telefonen PGA. Kärlek.
- Tjuv-Edison (och hur lampor släktes i hans ära)
- Hur en transistor funkar
- någonting om Faraday och Maxwell som jag inte minns...
- Englands SJUKA bombning med både konfetti och brandbomber över Hamburgs arbetarkvarter.
- En stackars radioamatörs medverkan i ninjaräden för att sno en radar från tysken.
- Vad Ampere, Volt och Watt egentligen är och hur namnen uppkom.

Was amazed that this book could seriously purport to be a history, popular or not, of electricity without once mentioning (as others seem to have noticed) one Mr N Tesla.
One of my rare two star reviews, I am normally a very forgiving book critic dispensing five stars with reckless abandon, without any fear or favour or influence of any stimulant or substance whatsoever.
So as an author you don't have to work too hard for my laurels to garnish your shoulders, I just have too enjoy the book and get to the end without feeling it has been a trial, I will be investigating the rest of your output Mr Bodanis and shall post the results in due course.

History of Electricity

An excellent book that describes electricity and its functions. In many ways the author bridges chemistry with electrical operation . The book has a chapter on the brain and the way it can identify and detect items. Read this chapter as it opens and solves many of the questions we all want to know pertaining to the neural connections in our brain. This book should be a must read for students for students interested in the field of electricity.

Fascinating book about how electricity plays a central role in our everyday lives and how various scientists and inventors used it to ultimately improve everyday life. I thought Bodanis would go into more detail, but he seems to gloss over many issues.

Towards the end of the book, he moves from talking about electricity with regard to technology and starts talking about electricity and the human body (central nervous system). While this is interesting, it's not as well written as the rest of the book and feels like it was just tacked on.