Electrifying America: Social Meanings of a New Technology, 1880-1940

Format: Paperback Language: English ISBN: 0262640309 ISBN13: 9780262640305 Release Date: July 1992 Publisher: MIT Press Length: 496 Pages Weight: 1.75 lbs. Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0" Age Range: 18 years and up Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher How did electricity enter everyday life in America? Using Muncie, Indiana--the Lynds' now iconic Middletown--as a touchstone, David Nye explores how electricity seeped into and redefined American culture. With an eye for telling details from archival sources and a broad understanding of cultural and social history, he creates a thought-provoking panorama of a technology fundamental to modern life. Emphasizing the experiences of ordinary men and women rather than the lives of inventors and entrepreneurs, Nye treats electrification as a set of technical possibilities that were selectively adopted to create the streetcar suburb, the amusement park, the "Great White Way," the assembly line, the electrified home, and