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Spark: The Life of Electricity and the Electricity of Life
A fresh look at electricity and its powerful role in life on Earth
When we think of electricity, we likely imagine the energy humming inside our home appliances or lighting up our electronic devices―or perhaps we envision the lightning-streaked clouds of a stormy sky. But electricity is more than an external source of power, heat, or illumination. Life at its essence is nothing if not electrical.
The story of how we came to understand electricity’s essential role in all life is rooted in our observations of its influences on the body―influences governed by the body’s central nervous system. Spark explains the science of electricity from this fresh, biological perspective. Through vivid tales of scientists and individuals―from Benjamin Franklin to Elon Musk―Timothy Jorgensen shows how our views of electricity and the nervous system evolved in tandem, and how progress in one area enabled advancements in the other. He explains how these developments have allowed us to understand―and replicate―the ways electricity enables the body’s essential functions of sight, hearing, touch, and movement itself.
Throughout, Jorgensen examines our fascination with electricity and how it can help or harm us. He explores a broad range of topics and events, including the Nobel Prize–winning discoveries of the electron and neuron, the history of experimentation involving electricity’s effects on the body, and recent breakthroughs in the use of electricity to treat disease.
Filled with gripping adventures in scientific exploration, Spark offers an indispensable look at electricity, how it works, and how it animates our lives from within and without.
When we think of electricity, we likely imagine the energy humming inside our home appliances or lighting up our electronic devices―or perhaps we envision the lightning-streaked clouds of a stormy sky. But electricity is more than an external source of power, heat, or illumination. Life at its essence is nothing if not electrical.
The story of how we came to understand electricity’s essential role in all life is rooted in our observations of its influences on the body―influences governed by the body’s central nervous system. Spark explains the science of electricity from this fresh, biological perspective. Through vivid tales of scientists and individuals―from Benjamin Franklin to Elon Musk―Timothy Jorgensen shows how our views of electricity and the nervous system evolved in tandem, and how progress in one area enabled advancements in the other. He explains how these developments have allowed us to understand―and replicate―the ways electricity enables the body’s essential functions of sight, hearing, touch, and movement itself.
Throughout, Jorgensen examines our fascination with electricity and how it can help or harm us. He explores a broad range of topics and events, including the Nobel Prize–winning discoveries of the electron and neuron, the history of experimentation involving electricity’s effects on the body, and recent breakthroughs in the use of electricity to treat disease.
Filled with gripping adventures in scientific exploration, Spark offers an indispensable look at electricity, how it works, and how it animates our lives from within and without.
456 pages, Paperback
Published June 6, 2023
41 people are currently reading
574 people want to read
About the author
Timothy J. Jorgensen
3 books59 followersTimothy J. Jorgensen is professor of radiation medicine and biochemistry, and director of the Health Physics Graduate Program, at Georgetown University in Washington DC. His scientific expertise is in radiation biology, cancer epidemiology, and public health. He lives in Rockville, Maryland.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 2, 2023
"Many people are unaware that electricity is really the very foundation of life. It’s the spark that brought the first primitive life-forms into existence and started them down the evolutionary path leading to today’s complex species with sophisticated internal electrical systems. Life is nothing if not electrical. You might as well call it “eLife.”"
"It’s not just nerves that respond to electrical signals. Muscle cells, including heart muscle, rely on electrical stimuli to control their mechanical functions. And even nonmuscle tissues send and receive electrical signals through the nervous system, as they report their status to, and receive their instructions from, the brain. In fact, virtually all of our bodily functions are electrically monitored and controlled."
"In the future, electricity may even replace many drugs as first-line therapies for treating a variety of diseases. As such, it might be possible to avoid the adverse side effects of those drugs, which can often be severe. But we are also learning that electricity’s use to treat anxiety can, unfortunately, sometimes be nearly as addictive as drugs."
"At the time, any ejaculations outside of sexual intercourse were considered abnormal by the medical profession, so wet dreams were considered to be a symptom of the disease known as spermatorrhea."
"It’s not just nerves that respond to electrical signals. Muscle cells, including heart muscle, rely on electrical stimuli to control their mechanical functions. And even nonmuscle tissues send and receive electrical signals through the nervous system, as they report their status to, and receive their instructions from, the brain. In fact, virtually all of our bodily functions are electrically monitored and controlled."
"In the future, electricity may even replace many drugs as first-line therapies for treating a variety of diseases. As such, it might be possible to avoid the adverse side effects of those drugs, which can often be severe. But we are also learning that electricity’s use to treat anxiety can, unfortunately, sometimes be nearly as addictive as drugs."
"At the time, any ejaculations outside of sexual intercourse were considered abnormal by the medical profession, so wet dreams were considered to be a symptom of the disease known as spermatorrhea."
February 6, 2023
If you ever wondered why an electric eel doesn't electrocute itself, that's the book for you. It offers an informative and entertaining look at the intersection of biology and electricity. Well worth a read/ a listen.
January 7, 2022
Jorgensen's take on electricity is an interesting one, filtered through the history of biology. I was impressed with Jorgensen's previous book Strange Glow: The Story of Radiation, and so decided to read his new book on electricity. I again, found Jorgensen's prose to be informative and entertaining. I think he has a great knack for using stories of scientists, doctors, and researchers to explain the history of the field. I also appreciate that the author gives simple explanations and explains the limitations and complications that arise from better understanding of the phenomena. For example, he explains how current kills for electricity, but also explains that voltage, current, and resistance for a human are non linearly related, so that a high enough voltage can reduce the resistance of the human body leading to a larger current.
Jorgensen starts with amber, goes through Franklin to Faraday for electricity and also explains the connections to biology (such as frog legs). He also goes through neurons to brains in a similar manner ending with speculation on Elon Musk's company Neuralink. I found the explanations useful and easy-to-understand. If you would like to know the history of electricity and how it connects to the life sciences, this will deliver (though I don't know of any other books with the same theme).
My one critique is from my training as a physicist. Jorgensen speaks of magnetic lines of force (I personally don't like "lines of force" as I think they are now more confusing than just saying field lines, but Faraday's terminology stuck because of how brilliant the idea was), and the author says that magnetic lines of force do not have ends. Because one can have several magnetic field nulls (where B=0), one can easily construct configurations where magnetic field lines/lines of force have clear ends, at a null or nulls. More generally, magnetic field lines do not have to close on themselves or go to infinity because the equations that describe them are the same as for Hamiltonian mechanics. Thus, one can get chaotic behavior where magnetic field lines ergodically (that is wandering without crossing itself) fill a finite volume, just as for classical mechanics. Anyway, this is a very technical nitpick in a wonderful presentation (and many physics textbooks get this detail wrong). I definitely still recommend it.
Jorgensen starts with amber, goes through Franklin to Faraday for electricity and also explains the connections to biology (such as frog legs). He also goes through neurons to brains in a similar manner ending with speculation on Elon Musk's company Neuralink. I found the explanations useful and easy-to-understand. If you would like to know the history of electricity and how it connects to the life sciences, this will deliver (though I don't know of any other books with the same theme).
My one critique is from my training as a physicist. Jorgensen speaks of magnetic lines of force (I personally don't like "lines of force" as I think they are now more confusing than just saying field lines, but Faraday's terminology stuck because of how brilliant the idea was), and the author says that magnetic lines of force do not have ends. Because one can have several magnetic field nulls (where B=0), one can easily construct configurations where magnetic field lines/lines of force have clear ends, at a null or nulls. More generally, magnetic field lines do not have to close on themselves or go to infinity because the equations that describe them are the same as for Hamiltonian mechanics. Thus, one can get chaotic behavior where magnetic field lines ergodically (that is wandering without crossing itself) fill a finite volume, just as for classical mechanics. Anyway, this is a very technical nitpick in a wonderful presentation (and many physics textbooks get this detail wrong). I definitely still recommend it.
July 20, 2023
Really interesting. Sometimes a bit much for my physics-stupid brain, but an interesting insight into the history of electricity
January 9, 2024
Good book with interesting topics, would've been 4 stars if not for the last chapter.
The last chapter did not age well about Musk's "genius". I can't take anyone seriously who speaks well of that man-baby.
The last chapter did not age well about Musk's "genius". I can't take anyone seriously who speaks well of that man-baby.
December 15, 2022
I learned a little about electricity and hardly anything about the body. This book was disappointing given my excitement about the angle. Some of the capsule history on the discovery of electromagnetism is decent, including some good color on Michael Faraday. But one of the biggest issues is poor organization. This jumps around between topics in an illogical way, failing to give a sure conceptual foundation on which to build. And when Jorgenson does get to the biological bit, there's not enough detail to satisfy.
I did enjoy some of the chapters on prostheses and implants. There's very cool work being done on repurposing nerve fascicles not only to control prosthetics but to allow some sense function; recovering some proprioception to allow functional feedback is huge. Jorgenson isn't a particularly insightful guide on this stuff but at least he gets out to some labs and sees some neat testing. Whatever goodwill he built up there quickly washes away in the final chapter, which is a paean to Elon Musk's genius under a thin veneer of feigned criticality. Jorgenson confidently avers that "nobody ever accused Musk of being stupid"; I guess he doesn't get online much.
This is a pretty mediocre science book, but I found it disproportionately dissatisfying given how excited I was about the topic. Maybe others will find more to enjoy. I will continue my search for a better treatment. Read only if you really don't care about the details of how electricity works, how the body works, or any of the thorny ethical issues behind medical technology, because you won't get depth on any of that here.
I did enjoy some of the chapters on prostheses and implants. There's very cool work being done on repurposing nerve fascicles not only to control prosthetics but to allow some sense function; recovering some proprioception to allow functional feedback is huge. Jorgenson isn't a particularly insightful guide on this stuff but at least he gets out to some labs and sees some neat testing. Whatever goodwill he built up there quickly washes away in the final chapter, which is a paean to Elon Musk's genius under a thin veneer of feigned criticality. Jorgenson confidently avers that "nobody ever accused Musk of being stupid"; I guess he doesn't get online much.
This is a pretty mediocre science book, but I found it disproportionately dissatisfying given how excited I was about the topic. Maybe others will find more to enjoy. I will continue my search for a better treatment. Read only if you really don't care about the details of how electricity works, how the body works, or any of the thorny ethical issues behind medical technology, because you won't get depth on any of that here.
February 11, 2022
Learning so much about electricity’s role in the neurons was unexpected and a happy surprise. Also good was his method of reporting disagreements with past and current beliefs.
He tries to simplify, apologizing for his few equations, but the few pictures are appreciated, and more would be useful.
He poses as a playful story teller, and teases his scientists who don't know the whole truth. His epitaphs may be funny to label the past: “No one really understands electricity. But no one wants to admit it.” But by now we do understand electron behavior, despite wave-matter duality and the uncertainty principle. His investigation is not anti-scientific but pro-engineering trial and error which he calls reductionist, for which he apologizes. Sometimes he nearly calls it magical which might be true of the past but is a dangerous attitude in today's era of misinformation.
He thinks a "scientist’s brain works best when it’s following a metaphor". This playful style was entertaining despite using a few too many metaphors and irrelevant examples.
August 11, 2024
I technically DNFed at 80% but I’m marking as read
I thought the early history of electricity was super interesting, but it took a bit of a turn for me.
Reasons I DNFed:
He disparages the field of chemistry multiple times in a book that **checks notes** is about electricity. Electricity is simply the flow of electrons and chemistry is simply the study of electrons!
The nail in the coffin for me was when he’s talking about how he went to an all-girls school to see the electricity experiments they are doing and he says that these girls should be able to become scientists as long as they can **maintain their interest ** 🤬🤬🤬
Like yes, the reason we lose women in scientific fields is because they lose interest. Not because of gendered and sexual harassment, gatekeeping, and toxic workplaces.
I thought the early history of electricity was super interesting, but it took a bit of a turn for me.
Reasons I DNFed:
He disparages the field of chemistry multiple times in a book that **checks notes** is about electricity. Electricity is simply the flow of electrons and chemistry is simply the study of electrons!
The nail in the coffin for me was when he’s talking about how he went to an all-girls school to see the electricity experiments they are doing and he says that these girls should be able to become scientists as long as they can **maintain their interest ** 🤬🤬🤬
Like yes, the reason we lose women in scientific fields is because they lose interest. Not because of gendered and sexual harassment, gatekeeping, and toxic workplaces.
January 9, 2025
An excellent read, giving me a straightforward history in the development and understanding of electricity. This book is able to provide information in a very easy to understand way. Very useful for people novel to the fields of physics, biology, electrical engineering, or neuroscience.
However, I did wish the book provided more details on the technical side, which I believe provides a greater intuitive understanding to the concepts. I do understand the author's desire to keep it simple for the mass audience. Despite having experience and knowledge in many of the concepts touched upon in the book, it was worth my time.
However, I did wish the book provided more details on the technical side, which I believe provides a greater intuitive understanding to the concepts. I do understand the author's desire to keep it simple for the mass audience. Despite having experience and knowledge in many of the concepts touched upon in the book, it was worth my time.
March 27, 2022
This book was really good. It’s so full of technical slang I had to reread a lot of paragraphs to understand what Jorgensen was saying. It was definitely a learning experience and a good book overall- jorgenson is personable and tried his best to make this a good reading experience. 5/5.
June 27, 2023
Informative and entertaining. Not a page Turner as I struggled a little reading this book but I sure learned much about electricity and it’s history and the importance of electricity to life itself. If you are an Elon Musk fan like me, you will find the last chapter inspirational.
May 27, 2022
Very up to date and engaging explanation of the biochemical process in human.
September 19, 2022
I really liked the first half- it was an incredibly detailed and fact filled history of electricity. That said I could've gone without the entire second half about implants and the future of AI.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2023
Would love to just have this on my shelf as a reference- he does a really nice job of explaining how electricity works- it's at times like a textbook - but very informative.
December 21, 2023
Enjoyed this book and thought it was interesting, but felt a bit over-simplified at parts.
March 13, 2024
Very interesting, if you're a science person. It was fun learning about electricity.
October 3, 2025
nice book for general knowledge. good presentation of the information, accessible.
October 18, 2025
This book is definitely not what I expected in a good way. The link between scientific discoveries and medecine was especially fascinating.
October 21, 2025
its ok.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews