David Bodanis

Biography:

David Bodanis lectured at the University of Oxford for many years, where he designed and taught the university's main survey of social studies, entitled 'An Intellectual Tool-Kit'. A frequent adviser to Shell's scenario unit on long-term technological trends, David has also worked on innovation and scenarios with BMW's Innovation Unit, Accenture, General Motors, Pfizer, and many other firms. His book 'E=mc2', led us through the world's most famous equation, and his previous bestseller, 'The Secret House', has recently been reissued. Now, with Electric Universe, he illuminates the wondrous yet invisible force that permeates our universe and introduces us to the virtuoso scientists who plumbed its secrets.

Past Shows:

	Electricity & Inventors
	Wednesday April 20, 2005

Science writer David Bodanis made his debut on the show, sharing stories about the development of electricity and the virtuoso scientists who plumbed its secrets. In the early 1800s, he said, Michael Faraday figured out how to harness electricity that could eventually power motors and generators. Later an American inventor named Joseph Henry developed a telegraph system that was then stolen by Samuel Morse, he detailed. Thomas Edison, who grew up fairly deaf from childhood, was hired by corporations in his early career, to copy or devise alternate patents created by other inventors, said Bodanis. At the time someone said of Edison, "that young man has a vacuum where his conscience should be." He also revealed that Alexander Graham Bell was inspired to create the telephone as a way to win over the family of a girl he was trying to court. The final frontier for electricity, speculated Bodanis, will be for it to move into applications inside the human body.He also shared tidb ... More
Host: George Noory