A BEST BOOK OF 2023 FOR THE TELEGRAPH, FINANCIAL TIMES, NEW SCIENTIST AND STYLIST
A NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB MUST READ 2023

You may be familiar with the idea of our body's biome - the bacterial fauna that populates our gut and can so profoundly affect our health. In We Are Electric we cross the next frontier of scientific understanding: discover your body's electrome.

Every cell in our bodies - bones, skin, nerves, muscle - has a voltage, like a tiny battery. This bioelectricity is why our brains can send signals to our bodies, why we develop the way we do in the womb and how our bodies know to heal themselves from injury. When bioelectricity goes awry, illness, deformity and cancer can result. But if we can control or correct this bioelectricity, the implications for our health are remarkable: an undo switch for cancer that could flip malignant cells back into healthy ones; the ability to regenerate cells, organs, even limbs; to slow ageing and so much more.

In We Are Electric, award-winning science writer Sally Adee explores the history of bioelectricity: from Galvani's epic eighteenth-century battle with the inventor of the battery, Alessandro Volta, to the medical charlatans claiming to use electricity to cure pretty much anything, to advances in the field helped along by the unusually massive axons of squid. And finally, she journeys into the future of the discipline, through today's laboratories where we are starting to see real-world medical applications being developed.

The bioelectric revolution starts here.

About the Author

Sally Adee is an award-winning science and technology writer. She spent ten years as a technology features editor at New Scientist and IEEE Spectrum magazine. She has also written for the New York Times, BBC Future, Quartz and The Economist. She has won a US National Press Club award, a BT Information Security award and the Guild of Health Writers Award for her inside account of Silicon Valley's young blood clinics.

sally80.com | @Sally_Adee

Reviews
An entertaining account . . . Adee's enthusiasm is infectious and she conveys well the jaw-dropping scale and complexity of the "electrome" * * The Times * *
We Are Electric is Adee's thrilling scientific detective story, a rich history that brings us up to date with the latest research * * New Scientist * *
Excellent . . . Sally Adee has written an absorbing and fast-paced account of a field of research that could thus herald a whole new era of paradigm-shifting medicine * * New York Times * *
Adee explores the chemical and electrical ferment underpinning all growth and life, highlighting the pioneers and charlatans who discovered and exploited "bioelectricity", [she] also conjures electric medicine: a future of good health, regenerated tissue and (perhaps) extended life * * New Scientist * *
A revelation . . . Has rich implications for how we heal and grow * * Daily Telegraph * *
Adee writes as a reporter but also as an enthusiast . . . . A lively read * * Wall Street Journal * *
This book blew my mind. We Are Electric is a thrilling read, and Sally Adee explains everything from the intricacies of our electric cells to the potential for new medical treatments - and brain-hacking - with a sparkling clarity -- MICHAEL BROOKS, author of 13 THINGS THAT DON'T MAKE SENSE
The 'ohmigod-that's-so-cool' moments come thick and fast as she brings the science up to date, investigating today's cutting edge and what the future may hold for bio-electric medicine. It's a vast and hugely exciting area of scientific research, shared with infectious enthusiasm, a real depth of knowledge and smart and funny turn of phrase. You'll never think of life in the same way again -- CAROLINE WILLIAMS, author of MOVE!: THE NEW SCIENCE OF BODY OVER MIND
As Sally Adee describes with great wit and insight, we are nothing without electricity: it's the stuff of life, and of death. This is such a thrilling, compelling and energising book - reading it I couldn't help picturing the author as Zeus, chucking lightning bolts at me. Such a timely book, too. The future is - I'm sorry, I can't help it - electrifying -- ROWAN HOOPER, author of SUPERHUMAN
Staggering . . . Our future appears electric, and this book does a great job of explaining why . . . Often amusing, always engaging * * Irish Times * *



Book Information
ISBN 9781838853327
Author Sally Adee
Format Hardback
Page Count 352
Imprint Canongate Books
Publisher Canongate Books
Weight(grams) 573g
Dimensions(mm) 240mm * 162mm * 33mm