Synopses & Reviews
No symbol of progress in our century is more galvanizing than electricityand#8212;electric power and the technology it has spawned. The "invisible world" of electric energy that was emerging at the turn of the century is one we take for granted, but its influence on the growth and quality of city life was, and remains, profound. Using Chicago as a test case, Harold L. Platt investigates the emergence of an urban-based, energy-intensive society over the course of half a century in this first book-length history of energy use in the city.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [291]-371) and index.
About the Author
Harold L. Platt is professor of history at Loyola University of Chicago.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Tables
Preface
Part I: The Energy Revolution in the City, 1880-1898
1. Introduction: The Search for Better Lighting, 1848-1880
The City That Coal Built
The Gaslight Era
The Origins of the Electrical Revolution
2. The Battle of the Lighting Systems, 1880-1893
The Fight for the Central Business District
The Introduction of the Arc Lamp
The Coming of the Edison System
3. The Crisis of Urban Politics, 1880-1893
The Corruption of Government-Business Relations
The Consolidation of Corporate Power
4. The Rise of Samuel Insull, 1893-1898
The Culture of Technology
The Perils of Progress
The Economics of "Natural" Monopoly
The Gospel of Consumption
Part II: Metropolitan Webs of Power, 1898-1914
5. The "Massing of Production," 1898-1908
Building a Sales Campaign
Building the Load
Building a Political Consensus
6. The Electric City, 1902-1912
Electricity Comes to the Neighborhood
Electricity Comes to the Urban Fringe
Electricity Comes into the Home
7. The Suburban Matrix of Energy, 1902-1914
Electricity Comes to Main Street
Metropolitan Connections
Regional Networks
A Regional Community of Energy Consumers
Part III: The Integration of a Region, 1914-1932
8. The Energy Crisis and the Birth of the Machine Age, 1914-1919
"This Is War"
"Mechanization Takes Command"
"Diversify, Fertilize, Motorize, Specialize"
"A Gold-Plated Anarchist"
9. The Emergence of an Energy-Intensive Society, 1919-1928
"How Long Should a Wife Live?"
"Where Will You Rear Your Children?"
"How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm?"
10. A Ubiquitous World of Energy
Notes
Index