Spark: The Life of Electricity and the Electricity of Life

453 Pages·2023·34.631 MB·English

by  Timothy J. Jorgensen

SPARK

S PA R K
THE LIFE OF ELECTRICITY AND
THE ELECTRICITY OF LIFE
TIMOTHY J. JORGENSEN
prince ton university press
princet on & oxford
Copyright © 2021 by Timothy J. Jorgensen
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Jorgensen, Timothy J., author.
Title: Spark : the life of electricity and the electricity of life /
Timothy J. Jorgensen, Princeton University Press.
Description: Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2021] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021026499 (print) | LCCN 2021026500 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780691197838 (hardback) | ISBN 9780691232652 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Electricity. | BISAC: SCIENCE / Physics / Electricity |
SCIENCE / History
Classification: LCC QC527 .J66 2021 (print) | LCC QC527 (ebook) |
DDC 537—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021026499
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021026500
British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available
Editorial: Ingrid Gnerlich, Maria Garcia, and Whitney Rauenhorst
Production Editorial: Natalie Baan
Production: Danielle Amatucci
Publicity: Kate Farquhar- Thomson and Sara Henning- Stout
Copyeditor: Jennifer McClain
Doom and Gloom
Words and M usic by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
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All Right Reserved. Used by Permission.
Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard LLC.
Jacket art and design by Sukutangan
This book has been composed in Arno
Printed on acid- free paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of Amer i ca
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my vivacious, bright, and beautiful wife, Helen. She gets the credit for
first proposing I write a book about electricity from a biological perspective,
a creative idea for which I am very grateful. My life would be severely
lacking without her unwavering love and devotion.
(What she sees in me I have no idea.)

CONTENTS
Preface: Current Events ix
1 Sparks W ill Fly: Static Electricity 1
2 Shocking Developments: Animal Electricity 22
3 Bolt from the Blue: Lightning 37
4 For All That Ails You: Electrotherapy Machines 60
5 A Circuitous Route: The Battery 87
6 Jolted Back to Real ity: Electrocution 106
7 A Field Day: Alternating Current and Lines of Force 134
8 Zombie Fish: Electric Force Fields 162
9 Crookes of the Matter: The Electron 183
10 Redbud: The Neuron 205
11 Zombie People: Voltage- Gated Channels 225
12 The Wanderer: Nerve Fibers 245
13 Crossed Cir cuits: Neuroprosthetic Limbs 267
14 Sounds of Silence: Sensory Neurological Implants 293
vii
viii Contents
15 Inner Sanctum: The Brain 319
16 F uture Shock: Artificial Intelligence 348
Acknowl edgments 369
Notes 371
Bibliography 403
Index 415
PREFACE
current events
Electricity is often called wonderful, beautiful; but it is so only in
common with the other forces of nature.
—m ichael faraday
We live in an electrical society. Most of our daily activities are powered,
illuminated, and other wise enhanced by electricity. If y ou’ve ever expe-
rienced a prolonged electrical power outage, you know what I mean.
Yet, some people have curious ideas about what electricity actually is.
They think of electricity as an alien physical force, outside of their bod-
ies, that’s confined within their electronic devices and channeled from
appliance to appliance through wires. They don’t appreciate that elec-
tricity is also a biological force, essential to the life of all animals that
have a ner vous system, and even those that don’t.
Many people also are unaware that electricity is r eally the very foun-
dation of life. It’s the spark that brought the first primitive life- forms into
existence and started them down the evolutionary path leading to
today’s complex species with sophisticated internal electrical systems.
Life is nothing if not electrical. You might as well call it “eLife.”
This is a book about electricity from a biological perspective. That
may seem an unusual approach, but I think it’s the best way to tell the
ix