Shocking Bodies

Although electricity was known about by the ancient Egyptians, it was not until the Victorian era that its potential really began to be realised. Luigi Galvani's discovery of bioelectricity opened up a whole new world of possibilities, in which it could cure sickness, restore sexual potency and even raise the dead. In Shocking Bodies, Iwan Rhys Morus explores how the Victorians thought about electricity, and how they tried to use it to answer the fundamental questions about life and death. Some even believed that electricity was life, which brought into question the existence of the soul, and of God, and provided arguments in favour of political Radicalism. Doctors prescribed electrical therapy and the masses were offered electric belts or corsets, at a price, that were claimed to have amazing restorative properties. This is the story of how electricity emerged during the nineteenth century as a powerful new tool for making sense of ourselves and the world around us.