Page 78 - Spring2020

All Thumbs Book Reviews

The Invisible Rainbow: A History of One reason that electricity became a popular
Electricity and Life therapy was because—even if people didn’t
By Arthur Firstenberg and still don’t know why or how—it addressed
Chelsea Green Publishing a host of conditions. People were partially or
fully cured from a wide array of afflictions by
At the heart of Arthur Firstenberg’s The often minuscule doses of electricity—the deaf
Invisible Rainbow is a simple question: “What would hear, and the lame would walk. Especially
is the effect of electricity on life?” One would compared to the alternative treatments of the
think, given electricity’s ubiquity, that the re- day, one can recognize the appeal.
sponse to this pressing issue would not be bur- There was a great deal in this book that
ied in obscurity, but as Firstenberg says, “The surprised, enlightened, amused or otherwise
effects of non-lethal electricity are something educated me. For example, I had never encoun-
mainstream science no longer wants to know.” tered the idea that acupuncture is actually a re-
Firstenberg shares his extensive knowledge fined form of electrotherapy—using the natural
on the history of electricity and electromagnetic charge of earth and atmosphere and body to treat
radiation in a manner that is not only instructive disease. Equally thought-provoking (and a bit
but enjoyable. Historical photos and first-hand terrifying) is Firstenberg’s exploration of the
accounts bring to life a time in history long flu and a number of other permanent fixtures of
past and forgotten. Who would have guessed modern life as phenomena intimately tied to and
that everyone from ministers to mechanics had driven by the age of electricity. Did you know
early static electricity machines with which to that before modern times, flu pandemics closely
shock people? Or that parlor games involving tracked the sun’s activity cycle, and dozens of
static electric kisses would become the rage? doctors and researchers had documented the
The inventions made possible by electricity also relationship? Or that influenza’s spread pattern
allowed people to “annihilate space and time.” defies the common idea that it primarily passes
You could talk with someone two thousand from person to person? Let’s just say I had to
miles away or travel one hundred miles in just pause and walk away a number of times during
a few hours instead of almost a week. Chapter Seven alone to ponder the implications
Some of those who discovered electric- of all the research and data with which The
ity expressed trepidation about the power and Invisible Rainbow invites the reader to engage.
impact of this force. However, as with so many I’ll admit that the book left me with mixed
discoveries and technologies, most proponents feelings. Recent research continues to highlight
touted electricity’s benefits while ignoring or substantial dangers tied to the devices and
minimizing the risks. Wherever electricity technologies that undergird modern work and
went, though, illness or injury seemed to follow. life—dangers such as cell phones that emit far
Individuals who worked in the new industries more radiation than manufacturers care to ac-
unleashed by harnessing electricity (such as curately report—and the rise of brain cancer and
telegraph operators and telephone switchboard other neurological changes in users. Although
Wherever operators) often suffered dramatic injuries and there are steps we can take to minimize our
electricity illnesses. Doctors of the day noted that they were exposure (such as hard-wiring our houses for

went, illness witnessing new diseases spread along telegraph Internet instead of using wireless technology or
and railroad lines, and some attributed these switching back to corded phones and technolo-
or injury issues directly to electricity. gies when possible), many of these “older ap-
Firstenberg points out that electricity, while proaches” are hard to find or not available where
seemed to incredibly dangerous, also came to be viewed people work. Soon they may become completely
follow. as medically beneficial and even miraculous. unavailable. Progress marches on, even if it is

78 Wise Traditions SPRING 2020