I
We now obtain so many of our comforts and conveniences by the use of
electricity that all young people ought to learn something of this
wonderful force, in order to understand some of the principles which
are brought into practice.
You all know that we have the telegraph, the telephone, the electric
light, electric motors on street-cars, electric bells, etc., besides
many other conveniences which the use of electricity gives us.
Every one knows that, by the laws of multiplication, twice two makes
four, and that twice two can never make anything but four. Well, these
useful inventions have been made by applying the _laws of electricity_
in certain ways, just as well known, so as to enable us to send in a
few moments a message to our absent friends at any distance, to speak
with them at a great distance, to light our houses and streets with
electric light, and to do many other useful things with quickness and
ease.
But you must remember that we do not know what electricity itself
really is. We only know how to produce it by certain methods, and we
also know what we can do with it when we have obtained it.
In this little book we will try to explain the various ways by which
electricity is obtained, and how it is applied to produce the useful
results that we see around us.
We will try and make this explanation such that it will encourage many
of you to study this very important and interesting subject more deeply.
In the advanced books on electricity there are many technical terms
which are somewhat difficult to understand, but in this book it will
only be necessary to use a few of the more simple ones, which it will
be well for you to learn and understand before going further.