electricity

I was thinking about the industrial revolution and the technologies that resulted, and I was wondering: Would it be possible to have a civilization invent electricity generation before they invented a steam engine? If so, how far could they advance? Would it be possible to generate electicity...

In 1913, Ford had a prototype electric vehicle built and tested outside his Highland Park, and by early 1914, Ford had committed to building a low-priced electric car. Saying to the The New York Times on January 11, 1914: Ford invested $1.5 million ($31.5 million in 2020) in the electric-car...

Like it says on the tin. Brazil's existing nuclear power plants, Angra I and II, were built during the last dictatorship, with help and technology from West Germany. Would a Brazil that stays democratic in the 1960s and 70s invest in a project such as this, and if so, would it be ahead or behind...

From Wikipedia: In 1925, the British government asked Lord Weir, a Glaswegian industrialist, to solve the problem of Britain's inefficient and fragmented electricity supply industry. Weir consulted Merz, and the result was the Electricity (Supply) Act 1926, which recommended that a "national...

What if the Inca in South America successfully developed and used electricity and radio for rudimentary communication by the time the Conquistadors arrived in the 16th century? For example, a paddle-wheel in a stream, rotating two magnetic lodestones around a crystalline material which is a...

How could we get some kind of cult or new religious movement which worships Electricity and/or Electronic technology. (e.g. lightning is divine, tesla coil on the altar, being shocked by a leyden jar as a kind of sacrament, electric poles and tv antennas as sacred objects, priests dressed as...

This a random thought bunny that popped into my head earlier after I sat without power for 6 hours, it came on for less time than it took to boil a kettle and the kicked off for another 3 hour stretch. What is the EARLIEST (I assume it won't be before thr 1750s) that electricity/telephones...

Simply put, have more railroads in North America use electric engine as opposed to diesel engines. Where would this be economically viable or successful? Where wouldn't it work? Is it possible to see most American main lines electrified?

The first thread I started on this site was on the war of currents, where I explored the idea on what might/would have been if rectifiers had appeared during the war of currents. I wondered if perhaps it would have ended differently if rectifiers had become available at that time. So this time...

Do you think it would be possible to discover Electricity, and some simple uses for it, like electromagnetic wired telegraphy before a time of industrialization? For example in Ancient Rome, Ancient China, or in Medieval Europe. For example, sometime around 1300 or 1400, there would be a line...

Although gas lamps started to spread from the early 1800s onwards, these early gas lights were open-flame burners that were not much brighter than torches or candles. The bright gas street lamps in which an incandescent mantle, rather than an open flame produces light and which are a bit dimmer...

When mains electricity was introduced, it began with DC. First of all, DC delivers constant power with just two wires. The principle load of the day was the incandescent bulb, and it worked with DC, all motors of the time were also DC motors. And if you think about it, most electric motors in...