Homemade Lightning
Creative Experiments in Electricity
Checking Availibility...Description
One of the best books on electrostatics for the hobbyists, inventor, or experimenter is updated and expanded to include newly uncovered information on electrostatic generators and complete instructions for building various types, including Wimshurst and Van de Graaff generators. Throughout the book, the author provides hard-to-find information on electrical anomalies, which represent the frontier of electrostatic research.
Covering theory and presenting electroscope and other construction projects and experiments, this handbook also includes experiments with electrohorticulture, gravitation and electricity, cold light, and electric tornadoes. Homemade Lightning is both an excellent first book for the building electrical experimenter and a superb book for accomplished experimenters who haven't spent much time with electrostatics.
About this Author
R.A. Ford is an electrical experimenter and inventor specializing in turn-of-the-century electrostatic devices. An avid researcher, he developed his own electrostatic generator, which is detailed in the book. Ford also has served as a technical consultant to manufacturers of Wimshurst and Van de Graaff generators. For many years, he has devoted himself to introducing students of all ages to the science and history of electricity. For the past five years, he has worked to develop high voltage equipment for use in high school science fair projects as well as in physics labs and lectures.
Reviews
From January/February 2003 issue
Hands-on high-voltage experimentalists interested in electrostatic machines will love this book. Filled with design plans for building electrostatic generators and various high-voltage components, this book provides the necessary details to construct these devices. Like the first two editions, there are detailed plans describing the construction of a Wimhurst machine. This edition however, details a more simplified but larger and improved version than previously described. There is also now an entire chapter devoted to Van de Graff generators describing the principles of operation, construction, modifications for improvement, and making accessories. There are many illustrations and photos describing the construction of these generators as well as methods for making electroscopes, large capacitors, and an electrophorus. There are many tips and tricks revealed that show how to make various parts like high-voltage corona spheres, shorting rods, and terminals. Other topics include electrostatic motors, cold light, levitation, exploding wire experiments, and historical notes on unusual electric discharges. A revised bibliography and materials supplier list also made in this new edition.
Anyone with an interest in high-voltage electrostatics will find this book to be not only a "cookbook" for designing and building high-voltage generators but also an historical account of the Wimhurst and Van de Graff generators.
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