Power Struggles: Scientific Authority and the Creation of Practical Electricity before Edison

摘要

With descriptions of diverse subjects ranging from twitching frog legs to dazzling light sources, Power Struggles recounts the history of electricity in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Though the book's subtitle suggests a focus on the significance of science as the driving force for innovation in electrical technology, Michael Schiffer, a trained archeologist rather than a traditional historian, instead examines the relationship between scientists, inventors, and social institutions. In the process, he produces an easy-to-read volume written in a social-constructivist fashion that demonstrates the contributions and limits of science in the evolution of electrical devices.