A studied consideration of revelations in electrical phenomena in
18th-century America as a cultural counterpart to the Enlightenment
in Europe.Delbourgo (History, Philosophy of Science/McGill Univ.)
offers in-depth accounts of early American experiments to determine
the nature of electricity-Benjamin Franklin, of course, front and
center-characterized by the use of the experimenters' own bodies as
a principal instrument in the process. Needless to say, the
tendency of American "electricians" (as those investigating the new
phenomena were known on both sides of the Atlantic) to expose
themselves and occasional willing volunteers to shocks of
indeterminate and largely uncontrollable size makes for some of the
most hair-raising records in the history of science. With powerful
static charges from the newly discovered Leyden Jar (the
prototypical battery) and storm-generated lightning itself as prime
sources, injuries and, at times, deaths, were inevitable. But the
author is swayed by scholarly intent from fully exploiting or
dramatizing these events, being more drawn to examining the results
as a collective epistemological experience that won reluctant
acceptance for "colonial" science by its "metropolitan" counterpart
in Europe in a persistently inflexible hierarchy. The book is still
engrossing if read primarily as homage to Franklin and successors
like Dr. T. Cole and Elisha Perkins. Franklin's humility in simply
reporting experimental results without posturing or postulating was
a key factor in the acknowledgement by Europe that Americans were
indeed partners in capturing lightning in a bottle. (Franklin's
concept of positive and negative charges, with a circulating
"fluid" constantly seeking equilibrium was, however, on the money
at a time when Europeans had little or no clue.) And in a perfect
paradigm for the eternal conflict between religion and advancing
sciences, the Puritan church initially condemned Franklin's
invention of a successful lightning rod as a blasphemous impediment
to the deliverance of Divine retribution.Detailed summation of
fascinating events, heavily weighted with academic presentation and
requisite hair-splitting. (Kirkus Reviews)
Benjamin Franklin's invention of the lightning rod is the founding
fable of American science, but Franklin was only one of many early
Americans fascinated by electricity. As a dramatically new physical
experience, electricity amazed those who dared to tame the
lightning and set it coursing through their own bodies. Thanks to
its technological and medical utility, but also its surprising
ability to defy rational experimental mastery, electricity was a
powerful experience of enlightenment, at once social, intellectual,
and spiritual.
In this compelling book, James Delbourgo moves beyond Franklin
to trace the path of electricity through early American culture,
exploring how the relationship between human, natural, and divine
powers was understood in the eighteenth century. By examining the
lives and visions of natural philosophers, spectacular showmen,
religious preachers, and medical therapists, he shows how
electrical experiences of wonder, terror, and awe were connected to
a broad array of cultural concerns that defined the American
Enlightenment. The history of lightning rods, electrical
demonstrations, electric eels, and medical electricity reveals how
early American science, medicine, and technology were shaped by a
culture of commercial performance, evangelical religion, and
republican politics from mid-century to the early republic.
The first book to situate early American experimental science
in the context of a transatlantic public sphere, "A Most Amazing
Scene of Wonders" offers a captivating view of the origins of
American science and the cultural meaning of the American
Enlightenment. In a story of shocks and sparks from New England to
the Caribbean, Delbourgobrilliantly illuminates a revolutionary New
World of wonder.
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