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SPARK S PA R K THE LIFE OF ELECTRICITY AND THE ELECTRICITY OF LIFE TIMOTHY J. JORGENSEN prince ton university press princet on & oxford Copyright © 2021 by Timothy J. Jorgensen Prince ton University Press is committed to the protection of copyright and the intellectual property our authors entrust to us. Copyright promotes the pro gress and integrity of knowledge. Thank you for supporting free speech and the global exchange of ideas by purchasing an authorized edition of this book. If you wish to reproduce or distribute any part of it in any form, please obtain permission. Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to permissions@press . princeton . edu Published by Prince ton University Press 41 William Street, Prince ton, New Jersey 08540 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TR press . princeton . edu All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Jorgensen, Timothy J., author. Title: Spark : the life of electricity and the electricity of life / Timothy J. Jorgensen, Princeton University Press. Description: Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021026499 (print) | LCCN 2021026500 (ebook) | ISBN 9780691197838 (hardback) | ISBN 9780691232652 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Electricity. | BISAC: SCIENCE / Physics / Electricity | SCIENCE / History Classification: LCC QC527 .J66 2021 (print) | LCC QC527 (ebook) | DDC 537—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021026499 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021026500 British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available Editorial: Ingrid Gnerlich, Maria Garcia, and Whitney Rauenhorst Production Editorial: Natalie Baan Production: Danielle Amatucci Publicity: Kate Farquhar- Thomson and Sara Henning- Stout Copyeditor: Jennifer McClain Doom and Gloom Words and M usic by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards Copyright © 2012 Promopub B.V. All Rights Administered by BMG Rights Management (US) LLC All Right Reserved. Used by Permission. Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard LLC. Jacket art and design by Sukutangan This book has been composed in Arno Printed on acid- free paper. ∞ Printed in the United States of Amer i ca 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For my vivacious, bright, and beautiful wife, Helen. She gets the credit for first proposing I write a book about electricity from a biological perspective, a creative idea for which I am very grateful. My life would be severely lacking without her unwavering love and devotion. (What she sees in me I have no idea.) CONTENTS Preface: Current Events ix 1 Sparks W ill Fly: Static Electricity 1 2 Shocking Developments: Animal Electricity 22 3 Bolt from the Blue: Lightning 37 4 For All That Ails You: Electrotherapy Machines 60 5 A Circuitous Route: The Battery 87 6 Jolted Back to Real ity: Electrocution 106 7 A Field Day: Alternating Current and Lines of Force 134 8 Zombie Fish: Electric Force Fields 162 9 Crookes of the Matter: The Electron 183 10 Redbud: The Neuron 205 11 Zombie People: Voltage- Gated Channels 225 12 The Wanderer: Nerve Fibers 245 13 Crossed Cir cuits: Neuroprosthetic Limbs 267 14 Sounds of Silence: Sensory Neurological Implants 293 vii viii Contents 15 Inner Sanctum: The Brain 319 16 F uture Shock: Artificial Intelligence 348 Acknowl edgments 369 Notes 371 Bibliography 403 Index 415 PREFACE current events Electricity is often called wonderful, beautiful; but it is so only in common with the other forces of nature. —m ichael faraday We live in an electrical society. Most of our daily activities are powered, illuminated, and other wise enhanced by electricity. If y ou’ve ever expe- rienced a prolonged electrical power outage, you know what I mean. Yet, some people have curious ideas about what electricity actually is. They think of electricity as an alien physical force, outside of their bod- ies, that’s confined within their electronic devices and channeled from appliance to appliance through wires. They don’t appreciate that electricity is also a biological force, essential to the life of all animals that have a ner vous system, and even those that don’t. Many people also are unaware that electricity is r eally the very foun- dation of life. It’s the spark that brought the first primitive life- forms into existence and started them down the evolutionary path leading to today’s complex species with sophisticated internal electrical systems. Life is nothing if not electrical. You might as well call it “eLife.” This is a book about electricity from a biological perspective. That may seem an unusual approach, but I think it’s the best way to tell the ix