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Berlin Electropolis
Berlin Electropolisties the German discourse on nervousness in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to Berlin's transformation into a capital of the second industrial revolution. Focusing on three key groups-railway personnel, soldiers, and telephone operators-Andreas Killen traces the emergence in the 1880s and then later decline of the belief that modernity caused nervous illness. During this period, Killen explains, Berlin became arguably the most advanced metropolis in Europe. A host of changes, many associated with breakthroughs in technologies of transportation, communication, and leisure, combined to radically alter the shape and tempo of everyday life in Berlin. The resulting consciousness of accelerated social change and the shocks and afflictions that accompanied it found their consummate expression in the discourse about nervousness. Wonderfully researched and clearly written, this book offers a wealth of new insights into the nature of the modern metropolis, the psychological aftermath of World War I, and the operations of the German welfare state. Killen also explores cultural attitudes toward electricity, the evolution of psychiatric thought and practice, and the status of women workers in Germany's rapidly industrializing economy. Ultimately, he argues that the backlash against the welfare state that occurred during the late Weimar Republic brought about the final decoupling of modernity and nervous illness.
eBook
Power-Lined
The proliferation of electric communication and power networks have drawn wires through American landscapes like vines through untended gardens since 1844. But these wire networks are more than merely the tools and infrastructure required to send electric messages and power between distinct places; the iconic lines themselves send powerful messages. The wiry webs above our heads and the towers rhythmically striding along the horizon symbolize the ambiguous effects of widespread industrialization and the shifting values of electricity and landscape in the American mind. In Power-Lined Daniel L. Wuebben weaves together personal narrative, historical research, cultural analysis, and social science to provide a sweeping investigation of the varied influence of overhead wires on the American landscape and the American mind. Wuebben shows that overhead wires-from Morse's telegraph to our high-voltage grid-not only carry electricity between American places but also create electrified spaces that signify and complicate notions of technology, nature, progress, and, most recently, renewable energy infrastructure.Power-Lined exposes the subtle influences wrought by the wiring of the nation and shows that, even in this age of wireless devices, perceptions of overhead lines may be key in progressing toward a more sustainable energy future.
eBook
Edison vs. Tesla : the battle over their last invention
\"Thomas Edison closely following the alternative physics work of Albert Einstein and Max Planck, convincing him that there was an entire reality unseen by the human eye. This led to the last and least-known of all Edison's inventions, the spirit phone. His former associate, now bitter rival, Nikola Tesla, was also developing at the same time a similar mysterious device. Edison vs. Tesla examines their quest to talk to the dead. It reveals: Edison's little-known near-death experience formed his theory that animate life forms don't die, but rather change the nature of their composition. It is this foundational belief that drove him to proceed with the spirit phone. Tesla monitored Edison's paranormal work, with both men racing to create a device that picked up the frequencies of discarnate spirits, what today is called EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon). Both men were way ahead of their time, delving into artificial intelligence and robotics. Although mystery and lore surround the details of the last decade of Edison's life, many skeptics have denied the existence of the mysterious spirit phone. The authors have researched both Edison's and Tesla's journals, as well as contemporary articles and interviews with the inventors to confirm that tests were actually done with this device. They also have the full cooperation of the Charles Edison fund, affording them access to rare photos and graphics to support their text. Edison vs. Tesla sheds light on this weird invention and demonstrates the rivalry that drove both men to new discoveries.\"--Publisher's description.
Book
Electrifying India
Throughout the 20th century, electricity was considered to be the primary vehicle of modernity, as well as its quintessential symbol. In India, electrification was central to how early nationalists and planners conceptualized Indian development, and huge sums were spent on the project from then until now. Yet despite all this, sixty-five years after independence nearly 400 million Indians have no access to electricity.Electrifying India explores the political and historical puzzle of uneven development in India's vital electricity sector.
In some states, nearly all citizens have access to electricity, while in others fewer than half of households have reliable electricity. To help explain this variation, this book offers both a regional and a historical perspective on the politics of electrification of India as it unfolded in New Delhi and three Indian states: Maharashtra, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh. In those parts of the countryside that were successfully electrified in the decades after independence, the gains were due to neither nationalist idealism nor merely technocratic plans, but rather to the rising political influence and pressure of rural constituencies. In looking at variation in how public utilities expanded over a long period of time, this book argues that the earlier period of an advancing state apparatus from the 1950s to the 1980s conditioned in important ways the manner of the state's retreat during market reforms from the 1990s onward.
eBook
Electrifying Indonesia
Electrifying Indonesia tells the story of the entanglement
of politics and technology during Indonesia's rapid post-World War
II development. As a central part of its nation-building project,
the Indonesian state sought to supply electricity to the entire
country, bringing transformative socioeconomic benefits across its
heterogeneous territories and populations. While this project was
driven by nationalistic impulses, it was also motivated by a
genuine interest in social justice. The entanglement of these two
ideologies-nation-building and equity-shaped how electrification
was carried out, including how the state chose the technologies it
did. Private companies and electric cooperatives vied with the
hegemonic state power company to participate in a monumental
undertaking that would transform daily life for all Indonesians,
especially rural citizens. In this innovative volume, Anto Mohsin
brings Indonesian studies together with science and technology
studies to understand a crucial period in modern Indonesian
history. He shows that attempts to illuminate the country were
inseparable from the effort to maintain the new nation-state, chart
its path to independence, and legitimize ruling regimes. In
exchange for an often dramatically improved standard of living,
people gave their votes, and their acquiescence, to the ruling
government.
eBook
The Influence of Voltage Gradient Application History on Electro-Osmotic Reinforcement of Marine Soft Clay
The electric potential gradient is a key factor in electroosmotically reinforcing soft clay. Its application history induces a series of physical and chemical reactions within the soil, influencing the selection of the gradient in the subsequent stage. To gain a deeper understanding of this complex process and its inherent mechanism, electroosmotic reinforcement tests on soft clay were conducted under varying electric voltage gradients. The changes in parameters, including current, drainage volume, shear strength, and water content within the soil, under different application histories of the voltage gradients, were measured. The experimental results demonstrate that the magnitude of the voltage adopted in previous historical stages had a significant impact on the current drainage situation as well as the enhancement of shear strength. During the studied historical period, a relatively high voltage gradient was applied until soil drainage stopped. However, at present, it has become extremely challenging to substantially increase the drainage volume regardless of whether the electrification voltage gradient remains stable, rises, or falls, even when the current does not drop too low. For soil with a high activity index, under an appropriate voltage, the input electrical energy can be more efficiently converted into various physical and chemical processes that enhance soil reinforcement. Regardless of the voltage gradient level adopted, the application of a low voltage gradient in the historical stage exerts a more beneficial influence on the current stage than a high voltage gradient. During the electroosmosis process, efforts should be made to maximize the drainage duration as it facilitates the promotion of the chemical reinforcement effect and reduces energy consumption.
Journal Article