Jan 10, 2022

Tim Jorgensen is the author of Spark: The Life of Electricity and the Electricity of Life which looks at the history of bioelectrics all the way from prehistory to the modern era. The book is very informative and shows that current neurotechnology has very deep roots.

https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691197838/spark

https://www.amazon.com/Spark-Life-Electricity/dp/0691197830

Top 3 Takeaways:

•  "The word electricity comes from the Greek Latin word for Amber. That's where it originally comes from because that was the only way to create it. They would rub Amber with wool and you would get static electricity"

• "One of these tricks actually was called the flying boy. They would suspend a child from silk ribbons and would take a glass rod and rub it in order to make static electricity. And then they would touch the boys with the rod and his body would be that the electricity would go into his body. And then he would able be able to do things with his hands, pass his hand over an open book and the page would move or he could attract feathers to his fingers and things like that."

• "It was the doctor's demand for better and better electrical generators for treating patients that funded the development of electrical generator industry."

0:45 "Do you want to describe yourself and your background a little?"

7:45 "Maybe we can take, maybe we can go through a quick history starting with prehistory?"

9:00 "Afterwards it really doesn't start until, like the enlightenment, right?"

17:15 "Then I guess in my mind, the next thing is the industrial era, like you were saying that the Edison, or is there something in between?"

23:15 "How far back does neurostimulation go?"

42:00 "Overall what has been your impression of writing the book and what do you think about the future of neurotech?"

47:00 "You were talking about some of the difficulties of publishing now during COVID, how so?"

49:00 "I'm very glad that you wrote it"