• Electric Universe

  • How Electricity Switched on the Modern World
  • By: David Bodanis
  • Narrated by: Del Roy
  • Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
  • 3.8 out of 5 stars (516 ratings)

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Electric Universe  By  cover art

Electric Universe

By: David Bodanis
Narrated by: Del Roy
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Publisher's summary

The best-selling author of E=mc2 weaves tales of romance, divine inspiration, and fraud through an account of the invisible force that permeates our universe—electricity—and introduces us to the virtuoso scientists who plumbed its secrets.

For centuries, electricity was seen as little more than a curious property of certain substances that sparked when rubbed. Then, in the 1790s, Alessandro Volta began the scientific investigation that ignited an explosion of knowledge and invention. The force that once seemed inconsequential was revealed to be responsible for everything from the structure of the atom to the functioning of our brains. In harnessing its power, we have created a world of wonders—complete with roller coasters and radar, computer networks and psychopharmaceuticals.

In Electric Universe, the great discoverers come to life in all their brilliance and idiosyncrasy, including the visionary Michael Faraday, who struggled against the prejudices of the British class system, and Samuel Morse, a painter who, before inventing the telegraph, ran for mayor of New York City on a platform of persecuting Catholics. Here too is Alan Turing, whose dream of a marvelous thinking machine—what we know as the computer—was met with indifference, and who ended his life in despair after British authorities forced him to undergo experimental treatments to “cure” his homosexuality.

From the frigid waters of the Atlantic to the streets of Hamburg during a World War II firestorm to the interior of the human body, Electric Universe is a mesmerizing journey of discovery.

©2005 David Bodanis (P)2005 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

2006, New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age: Winner

"Hugely impressive. No one makes complex science more fascinating and accessible—and indeed more pleasurable—than David Bodanis.” —Bill Bryson, author of A Short History of Nearly Everything and A Walk in the Woods


“Bodanis wears his immense knowledge lightly. His crystal-clear explanations of everything from force fields under the Atlantic to GPS satellites combine with a flair for narrative and an eagle eye for obscure facts (where else can you learn that antidepressants turn into liquid electricity when swallowed?) to provide an intriguing account of how the wonders of electricity have transformed our world.” —Ross King, author of Brunelleschi’s Dome and Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling

Electric Universe is a technological odyssey complete with heroes and villains, triumph and tragedy—a true scientific adventure.” —Simon Singh, author of Fermat’s Enigma and Big Bang

What listeners say about Electric Universe

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Electric Electricity

This was arguably one of the most enjoyable books I've listened to in a long while. While my own background is Electrical Engineering, there were concepts and ideas presented in such a simplified manner that this book should be required reading for all students. The history of how our version of electricty came to be was interesting not so much for how the various discoveries came about but the from the human side. There were many interesting stories that I had not heard before or fully understood the personalities involved. The narration is very well done which adds to the enjoyment.

An example is the authors discription of how RADAR really works, not how people thinks it works and how something devised to protect England was taken from the creator and used to firebomb a German city to the absolute distress of the creator. You get the full impact from the joy of discovery to the total dispair as women and children were incinerated.

You feel the joy of Alexendar Graham Bell working to help the deaf while bringing us the Telephone which revolutionized the world.

And while the all widgets are cool, the author goes into how electricty makes us humans work. I learned more from this book than I did in two semesters on biology. Maybe I paid more attention this time but I dont think so, I think it was the excellent presentation of what could be very complex material.

All in all, this is must-listen to audiobook.

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81 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Well written but wrong

The author can write. The telling is quite fast paced and random topics are woven together by the universal thread of electricity. On writing and telling, the book is five star. Alas, the author is neither a scientist nor understands how to check historical facts.

One minor example is when he talks about Lord Kelvin and the age of the earth, he takes a quote out of context, “assuming no other source of heat”, and weaves a fantasy about how Lord Kelvin anticipated radioactivity. This story is well known, Lord Kelvin, one of the great thinkers of all time, refused publicly to add radioactivity into his calculations even when his private letters showed he began to doubt his previous arguments.

I can forgive a great old man for not wanting to admit to a failing, but I cannot forgive an author who reads some scientific fact or historical bit and weaves a tale that does not reflect the known historical interpretation.

Another example is when he talks about Turing but completely ignores Dr. John W. Mauchly and J. P. Eckert, Jr who built the first completly electronic computer (ENIAC). Turing’s lasting contributions were theoretical not practical, he actually failed in his attempt to develop a programable computer. But no reader would know Mauchly and Eckert ever existed fromt his book nor that Turing did not invent software!

Time and time again the author regurgitates science with the wrong slant: the words are all correct but the overall impression is slewed.

So the book is a fun read, use the book as a jumping off point to learn more, just don’t use the book as a reference on how electricity, or scientists, work.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Interesting stories but factually incomplete.

No mention of Tesla with regards to radio or the AC motor should give you an idea of the major omissions this audiobook has.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Go Ahead, Plug In

Given the number of medium to bad reviews here, I thought I'd throw in my "plug." Since I never use audiobooks for scholarly reference, I am not as concerned about accuracy as I might be reviewing a printed text. While the points on accuracy or oversimplification made by some of the reviewers here are well taken, they didn't affect my pleasure in the work, which I thought an excellent audiobook. The writing is quite good and intelligent, at a good pace for audio, so even the author's digressive flights of fancy on the social effects of the transistor, for example, are enjoyable, imaginative riffs. The history of electricity presented here is periodic and a bit quirky, not at all comprehensive. Each episode centers on one or two historical figures and their advancement of electrical knowledge, from Volta to Turing, from telegraph and radar, up to microchips and synapses. The stories are well-told and I actually appreciate the "oversimplified," Dickensian manner in which the author paints his characters in moral hues as villains (Morse, Shockley, etc.) or heroes (Faraday, Turing, etc.) I knew nothing about the topic, so learned much, listened to most chapters twice, and was inspired (or perhaps embarrassed) into learning a bit more about electricity, which is, after all, the deity underlying our modern social structure. Overall, very good audiobook. The reader is good--pleasantly, gruffly avuncular. If you don't know much about electricity I believe you'll like it and learn.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Informative History

I knew little about electricity other than Thomas Edison worked with it before encountering this book. It is well written, informative, and makes the technology available to the listener. Placed in historical context, the heroes and frauds alike are introduced with enthusiasm and grace.

For a delightful change of pace, you might just enjoy Bodanis' Electric Universe. It is well written and well read which alone would put it on my own list.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Oversimplified

This well researched book added much human interest and background to many of the scientific and technological developments behind electricity and electronics. The author's overzealous attempts to simplify generated too many totally inappropriate analogies and lead me to suspect that neither the author nor the editor ever took even high school physics. Nonetheless, I learned much from the book and even more from following up on interesting leads mentioned in the book or omitted from the book (e.g. De Forest's invention of the vacuum tube).

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

EXCELLENT, but no mention of Tesla:(

David Bodanis is truly great at writing the history of science. Even if I am well familiar with various histories, somehow he grabs my attention immediately, my dopamine neurons start going crazy, and I remained hooked for the entire book. I love the way he tells a history.

The one exception to his exceptional writing is that he wrote an entire book about electricity -- in the universe, in the world, and in the animal body-- without mentioning Tesla!! Edison received his due, as did so many others. How can anyone write a history of the discovery of electricity without discussing Tesla? It could be that awareness of Tesla's contribution was not as understood in 2004, when this book was published, as it is now. regardless of why, any book on electricity that leaves out Tesla cannot receive more than 3 stars.

The rest of the book is 5 stars all the way. ​Beautiful histories of how humans discovered waves, which were all around us but unseen. Bodanis' history of Faraday was exquisite. Volts should be called Faradays and Bodanis will tell you why. I only wish he had given the same treatment to Tesla that he gave to Faraday.

Bodanis examined electricity in the universe as it pulls opposite charged atoms together, creating wonderful reactions. When discussing the electricity in the brain, he begun the section with a beautiful image of stars exploding out the elements that would eventually help each brain mount a response. Excellent writing all around!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Didn't like the narrator

The books starts well, and gives us something to work with, but the narrator's voice is too gravely and distracting. He makes the book boring, and makes me feel like I'm listening to a science professor who should have retired 5 years before.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Electrifying

I really enjoyed this book. However, I thought it spent way too much time on the World War II story (basically development of Radar). I remain unclear on when and how the ability to generate electricity mechanically (as opposed to chemically) developed, and finally, there was a lot about electricity and telegraphs/telephones, but not much about how eletricity as a means to drive motors developed in comparison.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good History Lesson

Another geek book but I loved it. Gives a good overview of the history of electricity and really kept my interest. A lot of fun if you like this sort of thing.

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2 people found this helpful