1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910788682303321

Autore

Eisler Matthew N. <1970->

Titolo

Overpotential [[electronic resource] ] : fuel cells, futurism, and the making of a power panacea / / Matthew N. Eisler

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New Brunswick, NJ, : Rutgers University Press, c2012

ISBN

1-283-68500-0

0-8135-5199-4

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (274 p.)

Collana

Studies in Modern Science, Technology, and the Environment

Disciplina

621.31/2429

Soggetti

Fuel cells - Research - History

Fuel cells - Public opinion

Fuel cells - Political aspects

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- CONTENTS -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Fuel Cell Futurism -- 1. Device in Search of a Role -- 2. Military Miracle Battery -- 3. Fuel Cells and the Final Frontier -- 4. Dawn of the Commercial Fuel Cell -- 5. Fueling Hydrogen Futurism -- 6. Green Automobile Wars -- 7. Electrochemical Millennium -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Index -- ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sommario/riassunto

It sounds so simple. Just combine oxygen and hydrogen in an electrochemical reaction that produces water and electricity, and you'll have a clean, efficient power source. But scientists have spent decades-and billions of dollars in government and industry funding-developing the fuel cell. There have been successes and serendipitous discoveries along the way, but engineering a fuel cell that is both durable and affordable has proved extraordinarily difficult. Overpotential charts the twists and turns in the ongoing quest to create the perfect fuel cell. By exploring the gap between the theory and practice of fuel cell power, Matthew N. Eisler opens a window into broader issues in the history of science, technology, and society after the Second World War, including the sociology of laboratory life, the relationship between academe, industry, and government in developing advanced technologies, the role of technology in environmental and pollution politics, and the rise



of utopian discourse in science and engineering.