Electricity is almost as natural as the air we breathe. You quickly forget that there are hundreds of years of science and innovation behind it. The book Electricity, the world behind the socket tells this story, from the first bizarre experiments with that curious electricity to the development of ultramodern power networks.
You only realize how dependent you are on electricity when it is no longer there. Watching television? Forget it. Putting on music is also not an option and asking by phone whether acquaintances are also without power is impossible. Slowly you find out in the pitch dark that the heating has also been cut. Read a book with a candle fished out of the bottom drawer?
People in the Gelderse Bommelerwaard can have their say about it. In 2007 they experienced a power outage that is rare for our country. For two full days, fifty thousand households around Zaltbommel, Maasdriel and Geldermalsen were without electricity. The outage also had a rare reason:a low-flying defense helicopter damaged a high-voltage pylon and had to make an emergency landing further on. Fortunately, the Dutch electricity network also has an average security of supply of well above 99.99 percent, making it one of the safest networks in the world.
This unique power failure is the opening of the book Power, the world behind the socket, in which emeritus professor of electricity supply from TU Delft Lou van der Sluis and science journalist Jos Wassink talk about how electricity has conquered this central place in our lives. From the time when experiments with electricity often only served to entertain the audience, to the roll-out of smart grids . In the meantime, the basic principles of electricity are also discussed, and you can read about the origin of the electrical industry in our country. That is quite a lot, but the richly illustrated pages make this full plate manageable.
From curiosity to necessities
It started as a curiosity. Electricity was an attraction in the 18th century, such as John Cuthbertson's so-called electrification machine in Haarlem. It could send huge sparks between metal balls. The electrical charge for this came from glass plates spinning along a row of horse hairs. Luigi Galvani amazed the public in Italy with severed frog legs, which contracted when he put tension on them.
It was not until the 19th century that electricity was used in appliances such as doorbells and telegraph devices. The Italian Alessandro Volta had developed his 'pillar of Volta', the very first battery, and scientists were able to experiment with electricity with it. Michael Faraday used the battery in his research into electromagnetism, electrolysis was discovered (the conversion of water into hydrogen and oxygen under an electrical voltage) and the electric motor and electromagnet were born.
Electricity really took off at the end of the 19th century. In the meantime, a solid scientific foundation had been laid by scientists such as James Clerk Maxwell, George Ohm, André-Marie Ampère, some of whose names live on as units in electrical engineering. Oil and gas lamps were replaced by electric light, electric motors displaced steam engines in factories and trains.
The developments did not go without a struggle. As is often the case, the new technology first had to 'settle' with the old techniques. Van der Sluis and Wassink, for example, describe how gas manufacturers (who provided a lot of lighting) put electricity in a bad light. According to them, electric lighting would cost much more money and also be much less beautiful in color. But the new technology was unstoppable. The electricity grid grew rapidly in the early 20th century and the initially fragmented electricity landscape (in which each municipality regulated its own electricity production) became increasingly interconnected. The advantage of this increasingly large-scale production and additional higher voltages also meant a more reliable and efficient network.
In the last century, the current electricity grid was created via a provincial and national network that has now been linked to neighboring countries through various connections. In addition, the standards for electricity have also arisen, such as the 230 volts and 50 hertz that now come from our socket. In the post-war years, the number of electrical appliances in the home rose sharply, and with those vacuum cleaners, washing machines and televisions, power consumption also increased. In the sixties on average by about 8.6 percent per year. In the meantime, a successful electrical engineering industry had emerged in the Netherlands, including motor manufacturers, cable factories and transformer builders. The book also discusses this in detail.
Where are we now? Are we finally 'done' with our power supply? Not at all. We are faced with the monumental task of making electricity generation more sustainable. Towards the end of the book, Van der Sluis and Wassink explain what this means for the design of the energy grid. The highly erratic nature of many renewable resources can be partly offset by good connections between countries. But we probably cannot avoid storing large amounts of energy.
A night without electricity
As mentioned, an absolute plus is the image in the book. The pages are very richly illustrated and between the photos and drawings you will even find comics with Professor Clarence Feldmann in the lead role (the 'founder' of the Dutch electricity grid), who goes on a journey of discovery through the modern power supply.
What feels a bit strange is the order in the book. It starts with the development of the Dutch electricity network in the 19th and 20th centuries, and then goes back to the first experiments with electricity in the century before, plus the principles of electricity theory. It then continues with the development of the electricity network after the war.
The "historical" chapters are extensive, but depending on your interests, they may be a bit long-winded. Despite the clear writing style of the book, the physical explanation of the principles of electricity is sometimes difficult to follow. What may be a piece of cake for the electrical engineer, goes too fast for a layman, despite the beautiful infographics. All in all, Electricity, the world behind the socket probably a book you flip through looking for what interests you. A book that everyone can get something out of. Perhaps during one of those frugal evenings without electricity?