Social benefits of electricity

Two main areas of benefits are considered: first, the light current side, beginning initially with communication by wire, through the telegraph and the telephone, then leading through `wireless´ radio and television to the modern electronics era; and, secondly, electric light and power. The author examines both areas of benefit, looking at what has been potentially available, and at the rate at which the applications were actually adopted. Economic questions associated with the use of electricity are also dealt with