Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity
2011 British TV series or programme
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Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity is a British television series outlining aspects of the history of electricity. The series was a co-production between the Open University and the BBC and aired from 6 to 20 October 2011 on BBC Four. The programs were presented by Jim Al-Khalili.
| Shock and Awe: The Story of Electricity | |
|---|---|
Title screenshot | |
| Genre | History of science |
| Presented by | Jim Al-Khalili |
| Narrated by | Jim Al-Khalili |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 3 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Production companies | Open University and BBC |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Four |
| Release | 6 October – 20 October 2011 |
Episodes
- Spark: How pioneers unlocked electricity's mysteries and built strange instruments to create it.
- The Age of Invention: How harnessing the link between magnetism and electricity transformed the world.
- Revelations and Revolutions: After centuries of experimentation, how we finally came to understand electromagnetism.
Spark
In the first episode Al-Khalili introduces the history of our understanding of electricity and the harnessing of its power.[1] He covers the achievements of these "natural philosophers" – Francis Hauksbee, Stephen Gray, Musschenbroek, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Cavendish, Galvani, Volta and Humphry Davy.[2]
The programme starts with Hauksbee's invention of a glass globe static-electricity generator and its subsequent demonstration to the high-minded.[3] It covers Franklin and the resulting experiments to capture and tame lightning.[4] The narrative continues with Cavendish's investigations of the electric shock received from the torpedo fish.[5] Al-Khalili expands on the development of the electric battery following Volta's discovery that simultaneously licking a copper coin and a silver spoon would generate a tingle of electricity.[3] The programme finishes with the first breakthrough in finding a commercial use for electricity:[6] Humphry Davy demonstrating the first carbon-arc light before members of the Royal Institution.[3]
The Age of Invention
In the second episode Al-Khalili covers the scientists who discovered the links between electricity and magnetism leading to a way to generate electric power-[7] Hans Christian Oersted, Michael Faraday, William Sturgeon and Joseph Henry.
The development of commercial applications started with Samuel Morse and Al-Khalili then tells the story of the 1866 transatlantic cable. He revisits the war of the currents rivalry between direct current and alternating current.[8]
Revelations and Revolutions
In the final episode Al-Khalili brings the story up to date covering the achievements of James Clerk Maxwell; Heinrich Hertz; Oliver Lodge; Jagadish Bose; William Crookes; Mataré & Welker; and William Shockley.
