Introduction 1
Part Ⅰ Illuminations：The Light of Reason 9
Chapter 1：Interpretations 15
Chapter 2：Electricity and Enlightenment 19
Part Ⅱ Shocking Inventions：Instruments 35
Chapter 1：Robert Boyle and the Air-pump 43
Chapter 2：Francis Hauksbee and the Electrical Machine 53
Chapter 3：Stephen Gray and the Charity Boy 58
Chapter 4：Pieter van Musschenbroek and the Leyden Jar 69
Part Ⅲ Lightning Cures：Applications 83
Chapter 1：Benjamin Franklin 91
Chapter 2：Knobs or Points？ 102
Chapter 3：The Business of Medicine 110
Chapter 4：Therapeutic Shocks 122
Part Ⅳ Sparks of Imagination：Theories 133
Chapter 1：Problems 139
Chapter 2：Fluids and Atmospheres 149
Chapter 3：Theological Aethers 155
Chapter 4：Measurement and Mathematics 164
Part Ⅴ The Flow of Life：Current Electricity 175
Chapter 1：Henry Cavendish and the Torpedo 182
Chapter 2：Luigi Galvani and his Frogs 192
Chapter 3：Alessandro Volta and his Pile 201
Chapter 4：Resuscitation 215
Further Reading 222
Notes 224