The ancients laid down the laws of literary form in prose as well as in verse, and bequeathed to posterity works which still serve as models of excellence. Their poets and historians continue to be read for the sake of the narrative and beauty of the style; their philosophers for breadth and depth of thought; and their orators for judicious analysis and impassioned eloquence. In the exact sciences, too, the ancients were conspicuous leaders by reason of the number and magnitude of the discoveries which they made. You have only to think of Euclid and his "Elements," of Apollonius and his Conics, of Eratosthenes and his determination of the earth's circumference, of Archimedes and his mensuration of the sphere, and of the inscription on Plato's Academy, Let none ignorant of geometry enter my door, to realize the fondness of the Greek mind for abstract truth and its suppleness and ingenuity in mathematical investigation. But the sciences of observation did not advance with equal pace; nor was this to be expected, as time is an essential element in experimentation and in the collection of data, both of which are necessary for the framing of theories in explanation of natural phenomena.
Makers of Electricity: Embark on a captivating journey through the history of electricity with Brother Potamian and James J. Walsh. Key Points: Pioneers of innovation: Uncover the stories of remarkable individuals who played key roles in the discovery and development of electricity, revolutionizing the world as we know it. Scientific insights: Gain a deeper understanding of the scientific principles behind electricity and the groundbreaking inventions that have shaped our modern society. Human stories of ingenuity: From Thomas Edison to Nikola Tesla, this book presents the human side of scientific progress, showcasing the triumphs, challenges, and perseverance of the inventors who harnessed the power of electricity. Makers of Electricity by Brother Potamian and James J. Walsh: Makers of Electricity, co-authored by Brother Potamian and James J. Walsh, is an enlightening tribute to the pioneering minds who revolutionized the field of electricity. Through meticulous research and captivating storytelling, the authors shed light on the lives and groundbreaking achievements of scientists and inventors such as Michael Faraday, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla. From the discovery of electric current to the development of practical applications, Makers of Electricity offers a comprehensive overview of the individuals who harnessed the power of this revolutionary force. The book not only celebrates the scientific achievements but also delves into the social and economic impacts of electricity on modern society. Makers of Electricity is an inspiring read that highlights the indomitable human spirit and the remarkable advancements that have shaped our world.
Maury Klein is one of America's most acclaimed historians of business and society. In The Power Makers, he offers an epic narrative of his greatest subject yet - the "power revolution" that transformed American life in the course of the nineteenth century. The steam engine; the incandescent bulb; the electric motor-inventions such as these replaced backbreaking toil with machine labor and changed every aspect of daily life in the span of a few generations. The cast of characters includes inventors like James Watt, Elihu Thomson, and Nikola Tesla; entrepreneurs like George Westinghouse; savvy businessmen like J.P. Morgan, Samuel Insull, and Charles Coffin of General Electric. Striding among them like a colossus is the figure of Thomas Edison, who was creative genius and business visionary at once. With consummate skill, Klein recreates their discoveries, their stunning triumphs and frequent failures, and their unceasing, bare-knuckled battles in the marketplace. In Klein's hands, their personalities and discoveries leap off the page. The Power Makers is a dazzling saga of inspired invention, dogged persistence, and business competition at its most naked and cutthroat--a biography of America in its most astonishing decades.
Learning to be a maker has never been more fun. Lavishly illustrated with cartoons and drawings, this book guides the reader through six hands-on projects using electricity. Discover the electrical potential lurking in a stack of pennies - enough to light up an LED or power a calculator! Launch a flying LED copter into the air. Make a speaker that plays music from an index card. Build working motors from a battery, a magnet, and some copper wire. Have fun while learning about and exploring the world of electricity. The projects in this book illuminate such concepts as electric circuits, electromagnetism, electroluminescence, the Lorentz force and more. You'll be amazed by the results you get with a handful of simple materials.
This book makes intelligible the wide range of electricity generating technologies available today, as well as some closely allied technologies such as energy storage. The book opens by setting the many power generation technologies in the context of global energy consumption, the development of the electricity generation industry and the economics involved in this sector. A series of chapters are each devoted to assessing the environmental and economic impact of a single technology, including conventional technologies, nuclear and renewable (such as solar, wind and hydropower). The technologies are presented in an easily digestible form.Different power generation technologies have different greenhouse gas emissions and the link between greenhouse gases and global warming is a highly topical environmental and political issue. With developed nations worldwide looking to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide, it is becoming increasingly important to explore the effectiveness of a mix of energy generation technologies.Power Generation Technologies gives a clear, unbiased review and comparison of the different types of power generation technologies available. In the light of the Kyoto protocol and OSPAR updates, Power Generation Technologies will provide an invaluable reference text for power generation planners, facility managers, consultants, policy makers and economists, as well as students and lecturers of related Engineering courses.· Provides a unique comparison of a wide range of power generation technologies - conventional, nuclear and renewable· Describes the workings and environmental impact of each technology· Evaluates the economic viability of each different power generation system
An expert's perspective on how competition can make this industry work. There has never been a coherent plan to restructure the electricity industry in the USâ??until now. Power expert Sally Hunt gets down to the critical lessons learned from the California power crisis and other deregulated markets, in which competition has been introduced properly and successfully. Hunt presents sensible solutions to power market reform that have been cultivated over her twenty years of professional work in the industry. Sally Hunt (New York, NY) spent twenty years at National Economic Research Associates, where she was head of NERA's U.S. energy practice and a member of the board. Coauthor of Competition and Choice in Electricity with Graham Shuttleworth (0471957828), she has served as Corporate Economist at Con Edison, Deputy Director of the New York City Energy Office, and Assistant Administrator of the New York City Environmental Protection Administration. Over the years, financial professionals around the world have looked to the Wiley Finance series and its wide array of bestselling books for the knowledge, insights, and techniques that are essential to success in financial markets. As the pace of change in financial markets and instruments quickens, Wiley Finance continues to respond. With critically acclaimed books by leading thinkers on value investing, risk management,asset allocation, and many other critical subjects, the Wiley Finance series provides the financial community with information they want. Written to provide professionals and individuals with the most current thinking from the best minds in the industry, it is no wonder that the Wiley Finance series is the first and last stop for financial professionals looking to increase their financial expertise.
Since the late 1980s, policy makers and regulators in a number of countries have liberalized, restructured or "deregulated their electric power sector, typically by introducing competition at the generation and retail level. These experiments have resulted in vastly different outcomes - some highly encouraging, others utterly disastrous. However, many countries continue along the same path for a variety of reasons. Electricity Market Reform examines the most important competitive electricity markets around the world and provides definitive answers as to why some markets have performed admirably, while others have utterly failed, often with dire financial and cost consequences. The lessons contained within are direct relevance to regulators, policy makers, the investment community, industry, academics and graduate students of electricity markets worldwide. - Covers electicity market liberalization and deregulation on a worldwide scale - Features expert contributions from key people within the electricity sector
The integration of renewable energy resources into the electricity grid presents an important challenge. This book provides a review and analysis of the technical and policy options available for managing variable energy resources such as wind and solar power. As well as being of value to government and industry policy-makers and planners, the volume also provides a single source for scientists and engineers of the technical knowledge gained during the 4-year RenewElec (renewable electricity) project at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Vermont, Vermont Law School, and the Van Ness Feldman environmental law firm. The first part of the book discusses the options for large scale integration of variable electric power generation, including issues of predictability, variability, and efficiency. The second part presents the scientific findings of the project. In the final part, the authors undertake a critical review of major quantitative regional and national wind integration studies in the United States. Based on comparisons among these studies, they suggest areas where improvements in methods are warranted in future studies, areas where additional research is needed to facilitate future improvements in wind integration studies and how the research can be put into practice.
Electricity, supplied reliably and affordably, is foundational to the U.S. economy and is utterly indispensable to modern society. However, emissions resulting from many forms of electricity generation create environmental risks that could have significant negative economic, security, and human health consequences. Large-scale installation of cleaner power generation has been generally hampered because greener technologies are more expensive than the technologies that currently produce most of our power. Rather than trade affordability and reliability for low emissions, is there a way to balance all three? The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Energy Technologies considers how to speed up innovations that would dramatically improve the performance and lower the cost of currently available technologies while also developing new advanced cleaner energy technologies. According to this report, there is an opportunity for the United States to continue to lead in the pursuit of increasingly clean, more efficient electricity through innovation in advanced technologies. The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Energy Technologies makes the case that America's advantagesâ€"world-class universities and national laboratories, a vibrant private sector, and innovative states, cities, and regions that are free to experiment with a variety of public policy approachesâ€"position the United States to create and lead a new clean energy revolution. This study focuses on five paths to accelerate the market adoption of increasing clean energy and efficiency technologies: (1) expanding the portfolio of cleaner energy technology options; (2) leveraging the advantages of energy efficiency; (3) facilitating the development of increasing clean technologies, including renewables, nuclear, and cleaner fossil; (4) improving the existing technologies, systems, and infrastructure; and (5) leveling the playing field for cleaner energy technologies. The Power of Change: Innovation for Development and Deployment of Increasingly Clean Energy Technologies is a call for leadership to transform the United States energy sector in order to both mitigate the risks of greenhouse gas and other pollutants and to spur future economic growth. This study's focus on science, technology, and economic policy makes it a valuable resource to guide support that produces innovation to meet energy challenges now and for the future.
Most Americans consider electricity essential to their lives, but the historic disparity of its distribution and use challenges notions of a democratic lifestyle, economy, and culture. By the beginning of the twentieth century, substations, wires, towers, and poles had followed migrants westward as the industrial era?s most prominent symbols of progress and power. When private companies controlled power production, electrical transmission, and distribution without regulation, they argued that it was not ?economically feasible? for many ethnic and rural communities to access ?the grid.? Yet, government agents continued to advocate electrical living through federal programs that reached into and across farming communities and American Indian reservations to homogenize and assimilate them through urban technologies. In the end, however, rural electrification was a locally directed process, subject to local and regional issues, concerns, and parameters. ø Electrifying the Rural American West provides a social and cultural history of rural electrification in the West. Using three case studies in Arizona, Leah S. Glaser details how, when examined from the local level, the process of electrification illustrates the impact of technology on places, economies, and lifestyles in the diverse communities and landscapes of the American West. As today?s policy-makers advocate building more power lines as a tool to bring democracy to faraway places and ?smart grids? to deliver renewable energy, they would do well to review the historical relationship of Americans with electronic power production, distribution, and regulation.
