In the tradition of Mark Kurlansky's Cod and David Bodanis's E=MC2, The Battery is the first popular history of the technology that harnessed electricity and powered the greatest scientific and technological advances of our time. What began as a long-running dispute in biology, involving a dead frog's twitching leg, a scalpel, and a metal plate, would become an invention that transformed the history of the world: the battery. From Alessandro Volta's first copper-and-zinc model in 1800 to twenty-first-century technological breakthroughs, science journalist Henry Schlesinger traces the history of this essential power source and demonstrates its impact on our lives. Volta's first battery not only settled the frog's leg question, it also unleashed a field of scientific research that led to the discovery of new elements and new inventions, from Samuel Morse's telegraph to Alexander Graham Bell's telephone to Thomas Edison's incandescent lightbulb. And recent advances like nanotechnology are poised to create a new generation of paradigm-shifting energy sources. Schlesinger introduces the charlatans and geniuses, paupers and magnates, attracted to the power of the battery, including Michael Faraday, Guglielmo Marconi, Gaylord Wilshire, and Hugo Gernsback, the publisher and would-be inventor who coined the term "science fiction." A kaleidoscopic tour of an ingenious invention that helped usher in the modern world, The Battery is as entertaining as it is enlightening.

Supercharge your understanding of battery technology Ideal for hobbyists and engineers alike, The TAB Battery Book: An In-Depth Guide to Construction Design and Use offers comprehensive coverage of these portable energy powerhouses. This practical guide discusses battery chemistry and engineering, how batteries are used, and the history of batteries. You'll find out how different types of batteries work and how to select the right battery for any application. The book also examines the technological advances being used to develop batteries as robust energy sources for a wide variety of devices. Tap into the power of all kinds of batteries with help from this detailed resource. Coverage includes: Portable energy and long-term energy storage Batteries for portable consumer demands, medical devices, electric vehicles, large-scale electrical energy storage, and space and military applications Basic physics and chemistry The science of batteries--cells, electrochemistry, thermodynamics, kinetics, and capacity Battery engineering designs, including electrode, seal, and vent design Battery performance, reliability, and safety Primary battery technologies--aqueous and non-aqueous electrolytes, including alkaline and lithium Rechargeable batteries, including nickel-metal hydride and lithium ion Selecting the right battery for any application Future technologies, such as thin-film, large-energy storage, and high-energy density batteries Make Great Stuff! TAB, an imprint of McGraw-Hill Professional, is a leading publisher of DIY technology books for makers, hackers, and electronics hobbyists.

A Soul of a New Machine for our time, a gripping account of invention, commerce, and duplicity in the age of technology A worldwide race is on to perfect the next engine of economic growth, the advanced lithium-ion battery. It will power the electric car, relieve global warming, and catapult the winner into a new era of economic and political mastery. Can the United States win? Steve LeVine was granted unprecedented access to a secret federal laboratory outside Chicago, where a group of geniuses is trying to solve this next monumental task of physics. But these scientists— almost all foreign born—are not alone. With so much at stake, researchers in Japan, South Korea, and China are in the same pursuit. The drama intensifies when a Silicon Valley start-up licenses the federal laboratory’s signature invention with the aim of a blockbuster sale to the world’s biggest carmakers. The Powerhouse is a real-time, two-year thrilling account of big invention, big commercialization, and big deception. It exposes the layers of competition and ambition, aspiration and disappointment behind this great turning point in the history of technology.

This timely book provides you with a solid understanding of battery management systems (BMS) in large Li-Ion battery packs, describing the important technical challenges in this field and exploring the most effective solutions. You find in-depth discussions on BMS topologies, functions, and complexities, helping you determine which permutation is right for your application. Packed with numerous graphics, tables, and images, the book explains the OC whysOCO and OC howsOCO of Li-Ion BMS design, installation, configuration and troubleshooting. This hands-on resource includes an unbiased description and comparison of all the off-the-shelf Li-Ion BMSs available today. Moreover, it explains how using the correct one for a given application can help to get a Li-Ion pack up and running in little time at low cost."

Do you size, design, or sell solar and storage systems? Would your customers consider those systems 100 percent successful? Pick up The Battery-Powered Home and turn your solar and storage customers into the best lead generators you could ask for. Written by a solar-and-storage technical trainer with more than thirteen years of experience, The Battery-Powered Home identifies the most common industry mistakes that lead to unhappy customers, lost revenue, and diminished reputation. Learn how to avoid these pitfalls and delight your customers, properly sizing and designing each solar and storage system while informing and driving your customers' expectations. The companies that follow these proven strategies report success rates as high as 100 percent, with dramatically fewer service calls and far happier homeowners. Grab your copy of The Battery-Powered Home and feel confident that each new customer will have a solar and storage system that can keep the power on for as long as they need.

This book is a concise introductory guide to understanding the field of modern batteries, which is fast becoming an important area for applications in renewable energy storage, transportation, and consumer devices. By using simplified classroom-tested methods developed while teaching the subject to engineering students, the author explains in simple language an otherwise complex subject in terms that enable readers to gain a rapid understanding of battery basics and the fundamental scientific and engineering concepts and principles behind the technology. This powerful tutorial is a great resource for engineers from other disciplines, technicians, analysts, investors, and other busy professionals who need to quickly acquire a solid understanding of the fast emerging and disruptive battery landscape.