Charged

James Morton Turner is professor of environmental studies at Wellesley College. He is author of The Promise of Wilderness: American Environmental Politics since 1964 and coauthor of The Republican Reversal: Conservatives and the Environment from Nixon to Trump.

"An eminently readable, elegantly precise treatise on the topic of batteries." (Science) "An enjoyable and accessible book...Many readers may be susceptible to the trap of wide-eyed idealism in terms of environmental activism and the 'clean energy future' Turner discusses in this book. He strikes a great balance between optimism and pessimism on that front; he puts a lot of things into historical and highly realistic perspective. In doing so, he provides a roadmap for people who actually want to achieve a clean energy future, pointing to the pitfalls previous engineers fell into or carved themselves, and advising how to learn from those mistakes and forge ahead." (H-Environment (H-Net)) "Engrossing and sobering, Charged is essential reading for anyone concerned about environment, energy, and the sustainable future." (H-Sci-Med-Tech (H-Net)) "The book provides readers with a valuable history of battery technology, the interdependency of batteries and the environment, and the challenge (and perhaps impossibility) of just energy transition policies." (Environmental History) "[A] careful and scrupulously referenced historical account of an important object: where [the battery] came from, its evolving influences on society, and where it might be taking us. . . . No one who thinks seriously about our energy future should neglect either Turner's warnings or his hopes." (Literary Review of Canada) "Provides an insightful understanding of the rarely considered consequences of electric-vehicle policies. . . [and] great value by debunking a host of commonly held beliefs about the battery technology that a clean energy future requires." (Technology and Culture)