The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life

Electricity has shaped the modern world. But how has it affected our health and environment?

Over the last 220 years, society has evolved a universal belief that electricity is ‘safe’ for humanity and the planet. Scientist and journalist Arthur Firstenberg disrupts this conviction by telling the story of electricity in a way it has never been told before―from an environmental point of view―by detailing the effects that this fundamental societal building block has had on our health and our planet.

In The Invisible Rainbow, Firstenberg traces the history of electricity from the early eighteenth century to the present, making a compelling case that many environmental problems, as well as the major diseases of industrialized civilization―heart disease, diabetes, and cancer―are related to electrical pollution.