Kevin Desmond

In the latter half of the 19th century, Gustave Pierre Trouve, a modest but brilliant Parisian electrical engineer, conceived and patented some 75 inventions, including the endoscope, the electric car and the frontal headlamp. He also designed an electric boat--complete with outboard motor, headlight and horn--an electric rifle, an electric piano and luminous fountains, and developed wearable technology and ultraviolet light therapy. Unlike his famous contemporary Nikola Tesla, who worked for Thomas Edison and was patronized by George Westinghouse, Trouve never came to America. A confirmed bachelor disinterested in industrialization, he was gradually forgotten following his accidental death in 1902. This expanded edition of the 2012 French first-ever biography of Trouve details the fascinating life of the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor once dubbed "the French Edison."

Since the late 19th century, efforts have been made to determine the feasibility of employing electric trolley systems in farming. In the early 20th century, German farmers extensively utilized trolley/cable ploughs, while the introduction of gasoline tractors later reduced the use of electricity in agriculture to limited applications such as electroculture, short-distance farm machinery, and lawn mowers. However, the advent of lithium-ion batteries in the past decade has revived interest in electrically powered equipment, including drones and tractors, for more efficient and sustainable agricultural practices. In his latest installment of his electric transport history series, Kevin Desmond highlights the contributions of the innovative engineers who have developed and refined these electric tractors and agricultural drones.

Since the late 19th century, efforts have been made to determine the feasibility of employing electric trolley systems in farming. In the early 20th century, German farmers extensively utilized trolley/cable ploughs, while the introduction of gasoline tractors later reduced the use of electricity in agriculture to limited applications such as electroculture, short-distance farm machinery, and lawn mowers. However, the advent of lithium-ion batteries in the past decade has revived interest in electrically powered equipment, including drones and tractors, for more efficient and sustainable agricultural practices. In his latest installment of his electric transport history series, Kevin Desmond highlights the contributions of the innovative engineers who have developed and refined these electric tractors and agricultural drones.

Welcomed at end of the 19th century as the solution to the severe problem of horse manure in city streets, electric trucks soon became the norm for short-haul commercial deliveries. Though reliable, they were gradually replaced by gasoline-powered trucks for long-haul deliveries--although a fleet of electric milk trucks survived in Great Britain into the 1960s. Industrial electric vehicles never disappeared from factories and ports. During the past decade, with the availability of the lithium-ion battery, the electric truck is back on the road for all payloads and all distances. The fourth in a series covering the history and future of electric transport, this book chronicles the work of the innovative engineers who perfected e-trucks large and small.

Beginning in 1881, isolated prototypes of electric tricycles and bicycles were patented and sometimes tested. Limited editions followed in the 1940s, but it was not until the lithium-ion battery became available in the first decade of this century that urban pedelecs and more powerful open-road motorcycles--sometimes with speeds of over 200 mph--became possible and increasingly popular. Today's ever-growing fleets of one-wheel, two-wheel and three-wheel light electric vehicles can now be counted in the hundreds of millions. In this third installment of his electric transport history series, the author covers the lives of the innovative engineers who have developed these e-wheelers.

Attempts at electric powered flight date to well before the 19th century. Battery weight and low energy output made it impractical until the 1990s, when the advent of lightweight materials, more efficient solar power, improved engines and the Li-Po (lithium polymer) battery opened the skies to a wide variety of electric aircraft. The author describes the diverse designs of modern electric flying machines--from tiny insect-styled drones to stratospheric airships--and explores developing trends, including flying cars and passenger airliners.

This is the first international history of the birth and rebirth of the electric boat and ship from 1835 to the present day. It celebrates the Golden Era of electric launches, 1880-1910. It narrates how, despite the arrival of the internal combustion engine, electric propulsion continued its progress with the turbo-electric ship. It shows how sustainable and hybrid technologies, pioneered in small inland waterways craft towards the end of the 20th Century, have recently been scaled up to the integrated electric propulsion of the largest ocean-going ships.

As the world's demand for electrical energy increases, it will be the ingenuity and skill of brilliant electrochemists that enable us to utilize the planet's mineral reserves responsibly. This biographical dictionary profiles 95 electrochemists from 19 nations who during the past 270 years have researched and developed ever more efficient batteries and energy cells. Each entry traces the subject's origin, education, discoveries and patents, as well as hobbies and family life. The breakthroughs of early innovators are cataloged and the work of living scientists and technicians is brought up to date. An appendix provides a cross-referenced timeline of innovation.

Protecting the planet is everyone's work. But we all have our own heroes in whatever area we are working. Planet Savers brings together the varied stories of the hundreds of movers and shakers that have spoken up throughout history and taken action to defend the world from pollution, deforestation, species loss and climate change. From Theodore Roosevelt to Al Gore; from Francis of Assisi to David Attenborough – and from hundreds more men and women that you will know little, if anything, about. Scientists, artists, business people, priests, lawyers, poets, politicians, activists and more, from every continent of the world. Their work has enthused us about the natural world and warned us that we must do much more to preserve it. The Indian woman who became the world's first environmental martyr; the Baptist Reverend who asked "What Would Jesus Drive?"; the Quaker big game hunter who set up the first conservation organisation; the Shakespearian actor who revolutionised organic gardening; and the housewife whose campaign against toxic waste forced a President to act. The book is a cornucopia of people who from time immemorial have put their careers, reputations and lives on the line to protect our planet from its governing inhabitants – the human race. Today, as thousands of species of animals and plants are faced with extinction, thousands of years of indigenous knowledge is lost in the face of technological advance, and we become more and more aware of the potential doomsday scenario of a warming world, we need Planet Savers more than ever. Our inspiration can be the 301 environmental lives portrayed in this book. These people cared enough to do something about it. Planet Savers is both a tribute and a catalyst: a tribute to the people that loved the planet enough to want to act to save it, and a catalyst for the people who will be inspired to act after reading it. New Planet Savers are at work right now in rainforests and megacities; in community centres and boardrooms; at road protests and in courtrooms, all over the world. If this book has one great aim it is to inspire you, the reader, to join them. It is a book that every home should own.