When They Hid the Fire

A History of Electricity and Invisible Energy in America

Daniel French (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

192 Seiten

2017
University of Pittsburgh Press (Verlag)
978-0-8229-6425-4 (ISBN)

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When They Hid the Fire examines the American social perceptions of electricity as an energy technology that were adopted between the mid-nineteenth and early decades of the twentieth centuries. Arguing that both technical and cultural factors played a role, Daniel French shows how electricity became an invisible and abstract form of energy in American society. As technological advancements allowed for an increasing physical distance between power generation and power consumption, the commodity of electricity became consciously detached from the environmentally destructive fire and coal that produced it. This development, along with cultural forces, led the public to define electricity as mysterious, utopian, and an alternative to nearby fire-based energy sources. With its adoption occurring simultaneously with Progressivism and consumerism, electricity use was encouraged and seen as an integral part of improvement and modernity, leading Americans to culturally construct electricity as unlimited and environmentally inconsequential—a newfound "basic right" of life in the United States.

Daniel French is an adjunct professor of history at the University of Toledo, where he teaches the history of business and technology. He is also an adjunct instructor of history at Jackson College in Jackson, Michigan.

Erscheinungsdatum	03.12.2016
Reihe/Serie	Intersections: Histories of Environment
Verlagsort	Pittsburgh PA
Sprache	englisch
Maße	140 x 215 mm
Themenwelt	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik ► Allgemeines / Lexika
	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Neuzeit (bis 1918)
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Technikgeschichte
	Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Ökologie / Naturschutz
	Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie ► Elektrodynamik
ISBN-10	0-8229-6425-2 / 0822964252
ISBN-13	978-0-8229-6425-4 / 9780822964254
Zustand	Neuware