Customer Reviews

Electrostatics: Exploring, Controlling and Using Static Electricity/Includes the Dirod Manual

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4 star:		(5)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'd first encountered this (well, the first half; the "manual" being a collection of notes added for the current printing) around 1970-74. At that time I'd have been middle-school/HS freshman.

The book was quite readable in back then, and should still prove such. One caveat: I have noticed some typesetting problems setting out equations -- fortunately this book isn't meant to be mathematically rigorous. Rather, it shows a number of simple experiments, variations in designs (besides the Dirods, there are the Shake-sphere and Pendulum machines, and Kelvin's water drop generator), and the basic theory (without heavy math) behind these type of generators.

The mid-60's photos and illustrations do pale in comparison to what could be produced today, using simple Word, Photoshop, and Illustrator (or even a 3-D rendering engine), but I find they are not a distraction.

I actually attempted to build the Dirod Jr, based just on memories of the book, during the mid-70's. Unfortunately, using hand-held jig saws, and drills (without even those cheap guide-rails that came out late in the decade) meant I had lots of misaligned rods. My biggest problem was in finding a suitable pickup-brush material.

My problems should not scare anyone else away from trying to build these machines.

Finally, let me mention that if one is considering between this book, and R.A. Ford's "Homemade Lightning"... BUY THIS ONE.

With all the respect due a neighbor, I don't think Nicolle read the same book I did. I heartily disagree.

This book was one of my *all-time favorites*, one I checked out of the library until it was dog-eared and I was broke from fines and photocopy charges. I'm very glad to see it in print!

This book was fascinating and enlightening. It made electrostatics crystal clear to me. Perhaps its only fault is that it rambles like a novel without a textbook-like structure. But this is also part of its charm, and may be why it's so digestible.

_Electrostatics_ is as much a how-to book as anything. Designs for electrostatic generators and demos abound, including a section in the back with detailed instructions on building two or three of Moore's "dirod" static generators. ( I've never built one, but I'm dying to get started.. and I imagine they make ultimate science fair projects for the kiddies.)

I love this book. I'm getting a copy as soon as I pay Uncle Sam his due.

This is a book about electrostatics, not electricity in general. So its focus is how to generate high voltage, how to store it and what to do with it. The emphasis is definitely on the practical side, there is very few theory because the author addresses young people and not professionals.

If you are aiming at a university degree, this book is not for you. Although the author of the book was a university professor, you will find no complicated theories, no frightening ciphers, but some formulas which can be computed with the simplest pocket calculators. The author wrote this book when his long university career had ended. He wanted to entertain young people and motivate them to enjoy experiments and possibly become engineers or scientists.

Moore was a famous experimenter and lecturer who travelled around the world with his apparatus, doing demonstrations. In the 1960s and 1970s, he wrote down his practical experiences in some kind of laboratory book which developed into the book I am talking about. Now you understand why the experiments and pictures in the book look a bit dated.

I like this book for its hands-on approach, but the book also has some aspects I dont like so much. Firstly, it is not a stringent textbook. It is a compilation of instructions on building machines and all kinds of obstacles you run into when trying to get them running. There are many drawings and some photographs in the book; the drawings often being very simple and the b/w images being not very clear. It is annoying that most of the formulas in the book were cut at the left and right sides so that many of them are unreadable or simply wrong because of a missing character at the edge.

American readers might appreciate that the author gives the dimensions of the mechanical parts in inches and feet. Even more annoying to me is the way he mixes up electrical units and dimensions in his formulas. For example, when calculating the energy of a charged capacitor, he gives us this formula: "oules= 1/2 C V", meaning the energy measured in Joules (the J was cut off) is half the product of capacity and voltage. Capacity is a dimension and volt is a unit. But this example also has its bright side. He tells us that (as a rule of thumb) 1/4 Joules is an energy that produces a very unpleasant (but harmless) electrical shock while 10 Joules is a fatal amount of energy.

The book has an index and a bibliography. The index is good but the bibliography is mostly useless nowadays because the referenced books were all published before 1970 and are out of print today. I still like the book, but others may prefer the book by R.A. Ford, Homemade Lightning, ISBN 0-07-137323-3.

Moore's book was written in the 1950's, so its language is a little dated, but the information is timeless. I would say high school students interested in physics or science would benefit most. Moore gives good examples that help the reader understand complex ideas. Some readers, at least.

I am a physics major in college-so you have some backround of me.

This book is wonderful for providing a simple understanding of electrostatics. The many demonstrations within the book also serve to show the different principles that apply to electrostatics. This book is not for handing you equations to deal with electrostatics, but gives you the situations needed to derive them. This is very much an experimental book. Its writen at a frantic feeling pace that makes you feel as if the author is standing their explaining his creation. The diagrams are extremely helpful. New-fangled CGI would not help to comprehend the electrostatic phenomenon he explains, with simple diagrams which are possible to create with a ruler and compass. A great book except that it nearly repeats itself with the "dirod manual" at the end. For that it becomes slightly annoying, also not all of it is perfectly clear, he leaves out some *important* information as to what materials some things were made out of, but that can be figured out through the rest of the text.
Overal a great book with some drawbacks for those not extremely curious about electrostatics.

Innumerable fascinating and practical experiments. Lucid and insightful explanations. Accessible for all readers and DIY experimenters. The author has an infectious enthusiasm. Highly recommended!

Reviewer: Bryan J Lowder (SLC, UT USA) -
With all the respect due a neighbor, I don't think Nicolle read the same book I did. I heartily disagree.

Bryan: Me too; I'm a mechanic engineer that studied a wide science phenomena types including electrostatic. Moore's boock is interesting and has some usefull datas that I used to buil a 400 Kv Van de Graaff generator which really works. It's not a money waste, it's a ussefull book. Try it.

I found nothing in this book of any use. I, a high school student, learned nothing new by reading it. The explanations were poor and confusing. The so called 'Dirod Manual' was a piece of trash and impossible to follow. What a waste of money!