The Electric Century

Shows how the science of electricity, mostly developed in the nineteenth century, was turned into technology in the twentieth century Looks at the inventors and inventions that gave us so many of the items that have make our lives easier Makes accessible to all the history of engineering and how its advances drive new product development and dispersion

Autorentext

J.B. Williams got an electrical engineering degree at Imperial College, which led him into the design of electronic control and instrumentation equipment, and he became a Chartered Engineer. After working for a number of companies, including AVO/Megger and gaining seniority, he went into engineering management and later co-founded Ingenion Design Ltd to produce electronic instrumentation, exposing him to many different industries varying from washing machines to nuclear power stations.

Zusammenfassung

Inhalt

1 Introduction.- 2 Chaotic Beginnings - 3 Lighting that Doesn't Need Lighting.- 4 Streetcars, Subways, Trains and Suburbs.- 5 First You Have to Make It: The Spread of Electricity Supply.- 6 Beginnings of Mass Production: Electric Power in Industry.- 7 Early Mass Media: Newspapers and Cinema.- 8 The Catless Miaow: Wireless Telegraphy.- 9 Healthy? Early Medical Electricity.- 10 Portable Power: Batteries.- 11 A Good Investment: Electricity Grids.- 12 Willing Servants: The Growth of Appliances in the 1930s.- 13 Blackout: War and Crisis in Electric Power Generation.- 14 Give Someone a Bell - Telephones.- 15. Horseless Carriages: Road Vehicles.- 16 Too Cheap to Meter? Nuclear Power and Beyond.- 17 Keeping it Fresh: Fridges and Freezers.- 18 Banishing Washday: Home Laundry.- 19 Going up... Or Down: Elevators and Escalators.- 20 Gadgets: Small Household Appliances.- 21 Freedom of the House: Central Heating and Air Conditioning.- 22 Power Tools and the DIY Revolution.- 23 The Electric Century.- Acknowledgements.- Endnotes.- Bibliography.- Index.