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The Grid: Biography of an American Technology
The history of the grid, the world's largest interconnected power machine that is North America's electricity infrastructure.
The North American power grid has been called the world's largest machine. The grid connects nearly every living soul on the continent; Americans rely utterly on the miracle of electrification. In this book, Julie Cohn tells the history of the grid, from early linkages in the 1890s through the grid's maturity as a networked infrastructure in the 1980s. She focuses on the strategies and technologies used to control power on the grid—in fact made up of four major networks of interconnected power systems—paying particular attention to the work of engineers and system operators who handled the everyday operations. To do so, she consulted sources that range from the pages of historical trade journals to corporate archives to the papers of her father, Nathan Cohn, who worked in the industry from 1927 to 1989—roughly the period of key power control innovations across North America.
Cohn investigates major challenges and major breakthroughs but also the hidden aspects of our electricity infrastructure, both technical and human. She describes the origins of the grid and the growth of interconnection; emerging control issues, including difficulties in matching generation and demand on linked systems; collaboration and competition against the backdrop of economic depression and government infrastructure investment; the effects of World War II on electrification; postwar plans for a coast-to-coast grid; the northeast blackout of 1965 and the East-West closure of 1967; and renewed efforts at achieving stability and reliability after those two events.
The North American power grid has been called the world's largest machine. The grid connects nearly every living soul on the continent; Americans rely utterly on the miracle of electrification. In this book, Julie Cohn tells the history of the grid, from early linkages in the 1890s through the grid's maturity as a networked infrastructure in the 1980s. She focuses on the strategies and technologies used to control power on the grid—in fact made up of four major networks of interconnected power systems—paying particular attention to the work of engineers and system operators who handled the everyday operations. To do so, she consulted sources that range from the pages of historical trade journals to corporate archives to the papers of her father, Nathan Cohn, who worked in the industry from 1927 to 1989—roughly the period of key power control innovations across North America.
Cohn investigates major challenges and major breakthroughs but also the hidden aspects of our electricity infrastructure, both technical and human. She describes the origins of the grid and the growth of interconnection; emerging control issues, including difficulties in matching generation and demand on linked systems; collaboration and competition against the backdrop of economic depression and government infrastructure investment; the effects of World War II on electrification; postwar plans for a coast-to-coast grid; the northeast blackout of 1965 and the East-West closure of 1967; and renewed efforts at achieving stability and reliability after those two events.
320 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2017
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About the author
Julie A. Cohn
1 bookJulie A. Cohn is Research Historian at the Center for Public History at the University of Houston.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 11, 2022
L'histoire de la grille énergétique américaine. C'est LA raison expliquant la puissance du hégémon américain durant le 20e siècle. L'histoire de la grille énergétique, c'est l'histoire des équipements d'inter-connections, les précurseurs de toutes les technologies de l'information. Les électrons, les photons, les ondes, avec des médias, des protocoles et des standards, permettent de rendre possible monde actuel. L'auteure est privilégiée car son père fût dans les ingénieurs les plus importants dans cette histoire. Avec des archives privées, une pléthore de références et des chapitres séparées par grands moments (avant la première guerre, la première guerre jusqu'à la deuxième, l'après-guerre, le grand black out de 1967 et les années 80) on peut connaître l'histoire de l'ancêtre des télécomms et d'Internet. Un énorme livre pour les geeks difficiles.
June 16, 2019
A dense, dry, difficult, but educational book about the history of the power grid, with a focus on its earlier years, from the early to mid 1900s. I'm not really judging here, I think its difficult to write about the grid without getting mired in dry, technical language. However, it would have been nice if the book did actually lean into the technical details and go full-out on explaining and analyzing the technologies involved in grid controls; it felt like often the book would hover in a rather frustrating gray area between lay descriptions and technical/insider analysis. But nonetheless, the book did have its moments of extremely interesting and well-researched pieces that made it a worthwhile read. I'm not sure I'd recommend this book to somebody who doesn't already have some background in power/energy systems or electrical engineering, but for those who do, its a pretty good read.
May 27, 2021
Not a huge fan of this book. Felt more like a dutiful listing of events that precipitated the rise of the current grid rather than an effective organization of what these changes meant and what we can take away from that development today. I am also coming from outside of the energy industry so was hoping for something that could help me understand some of the bigger discussions and developments.
June 29, 2025
well researched but not well written i was very bored
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews