Electrostatic Experiments: An Encyclopedia of Early Electrostatic Experiments, Demonstrations, Devices, and Apparatus | 
|  | | | Title: | Electrostatic Experiments: An Encyclopedia of Early Electrostatic Experiments, Demonstrations, Devices, and Apparatus | | Author: | G. W. Francis
Oleg D. Jefimenko (Editor) | | Publisher: | Electret Scientific Company | | Type: | Book / Paperback | | Publication Date: | June, 2005 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0917406133 / 9780917406133 | | List Price: | $24.00 | | Amazon Price: | $24.00 | |
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Product Description
Originally published in the middle of the nineteenth century under the title "Electrical Experiments", this book describes practically all basic electrostatic experiments, demonstrations, devices, and apparatus performed and invented since the time when the first electrostatic effects were noticed in antiquity up to about 1850. The book is unique in its comprehensiveness and provides all essential details for replicating over 400 electrostatic experiments and for reconstructing numerous electrostatic devices. Unfortunately, as is frequently the case with older books, the original editions of Francis's "Electrical Experiments" belong to the category of "rare books" hardly accessible now even to research scientists, to say nothing of students, teachers, engineers, amateur scientists, inventors, patent lawyers, and anyone else who may be interested in electrical science and in electrostatics in particular. And yet, the utility of Francis's book to a wide circle of readers is even greater now than when the book was first written because electrostatics has now become a very practical science with many useful applications, and therefore for many persons a familiarity with its basic principles and techniques is now truly important. The purpose of the present edition of Francis's remarkable work is to make it readily available and appealing to as wide a circle of readers interested in electrostatics as possible. The title of the book has been changed from "Electrical Experiments" to "Electrostatic Experiments". The word "electrical" in the original title, perfectly appropriate in the middle of the nineteenth century when the book was first published, is misleading to present-day readers: the book deals exclusively with electrostatics, whereas "electrical" is now mostly understood as something relating to the electric current. The book is printed in an entirely new format. Originally the book was printed in a very small typeface and its typographic quality was rather poor. The illustrations (wood engravings) were very small. The present format is designed for easy readability and pleasing visual appearance. The book is now printed in 11 points Century Schoolbook typeface - one of the most readable typefaces in existence. All 148 wood engravings originally contained in the book have been enlarged. Some words and terms used in the book have now either disappeared from the English language or have acquired a different meaning. Therefore the book has been now supplemented by a glossary explaining the most obscure or ambiguous words appearing in the book. Furthermore, taking into account that the most convenient presently-known generator of static electricity for performing electrostatic experiments is the Wimshurst's influence machine, invented some thirty years after the publication of Francis's book, the book has been supplemented by a description of this machine. Finally, the book has been supplemented by carefully selected pertinent literature references. Both the paperback edition and the hardcover edition are printed on high quality paper. For better durability and ease of use the signatures are sawn together. The hardcover edition is bound in Skyvertex® -- a high grade synthetic material of leather-like texture and very pleasing appearance.
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Customer Reviews:
• Excellent Resource On The Topic Of Electrostatics 09 November, 2006
Electrostatic Experiments (G.W. Francis) -- The subtitle for this book is "An encyclopedia of early electrostatic experiments, demonstrations, devices, and apparatus." The book lives up to its name. A great book for an overview of the field. I know it sounds a little silly, but the nice bright white paper and crisp illustrations are a real boon to this book. The font is well chosen and the leading is easy to read. The publisher put some effort into making this an easy book to read.
This book was originally published in the middle of the 19th century under the title "Electrical Experiments." This new version has been edited and reformatted by the listed author Oleg Jefimenko (West Virginia University).
In this book you will find reference to odd-ball experiments that other books just don't get around to talking about. For example, Eggs illuminated. (p.200) and Illumination of oranges (p.201). If you are looking for demonstrations or ideas for creating new displays for lecture or theater, this book has plenty of inspiration.
The author's edits help the material -- making it a bit easier to access. In addition there is an included glossary at the back of the book which will explain many of the terms used by the original authors from the 19th century.
Homemade Lightning (R.A. Ford) -- If you are interested in putting together an electrostatic device, this is the book for you. Lots of how-to with pictures and explanation. I think as a first book this is your best bet. And as a book for creating running examples, this is your best bet. However, I don't believe I would want to have just one book on the subject. The other three books mentioned below add their own dimension to the subject and are (in my opinion) worth the few dollars needed to create a mini-library on the subject.
Electrostatics (A.D. Moore) -- A nice home experiments how-to book. The book is a little chatty in parts. I liked this. The author speaks with a direct, sitting across the table, style.
Static Electricity (J.H. Pepper) -- This material is extracted fom Cyclopaedic Science Simplified 1889. I use this for historical reasons and to poke around in. The book since it was written in 1889 assumes a fair degree of background by the reader. Great pictures and some nice explanations of how things work. You just need to be able to penetrate the older text.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AAN7YMX0P1F52
• Finally, We Can Obtain A Copy Of This Very Rare Book! 20 September, 2005
This is a fascinating book filled with detailed descriptions of "classic" experiments in electrostatics. The person responsible for reprinting this rare book is Dr. Oleg Jefimenko, well known to those working in electricity and magnetism, electrostatics, and electrets.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1IIBMJTXNPVYT
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