Science Book Reviews

An Entertainment for Angels

"Franklin made a strong kite from a silk handkerchief and a cedar cross carrying a sharp, pointed wire. To the kite's string he attached a metal key carefully wrapped in dry silk to insulate it, sensibly stationing himself under cover. By flying the kite into a thunder cloud, he cased sparks to stream from the key..."

Delivered in a style reminiscent of 'Sophie's World' Patricia Fara, fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, tells the story of the key players who fashioned our understanding of electricity during the Enlightenment.

An Entertainment for Angels is richly endowed with pictures and anecdotes including how Benjamin Franklin tapped electricity from a thunder cloud with a kite, how Galvani accidentally discovered 'animal electricity' when he hung frogs legs on his garden fence, and the experiments of France's "barefoot philosopher" Robert Symmer, who used static electricity produced by his own silk stockings. The story successfully unites the pursuits of 'electricians' from many countries and gives a clear picture of the international interactions between politics, electrical research and scientific sentiment during the Enlightenment.

Slightly frustrating are the lack of scientific explanations for some of the experiments described in the book, but then this is intended to be a history of science book. In this sense An Entertainment for Angels beautifully presents the mindset and sentiments of the enlightenment electricians, and is an engaging read for anyone with a healthy interest in 18th and 19th century science history.