Charged: The Unexpected Role of Electricity in the Workings of Nature - Hardcover

by Gerald Pollack (Author), Ethan Pollack (Illustrator)

Charged explores a bold rethinking of natural phenomena by framing the Earth not as an electrically neutral sphere, but as a charged body with far-reaching consequences. It begins by establishing the Earth's negative charge and then examines how this perspective sheds light on fundamental dynamics such as the origin of the magnetic field, the rotation of the planet, and the forces driving weather. From rainfall to typhoons and tornadoes, electrical charge emerges as a unifying principle for explaining atmospheric processes in ways that go beyond traditional meteorology.

This electrical paradigm is extended to broader mysteries of nature, including gravitation, which is reconsidered not as mass-based attraction alone but as an interaction between electrical charges within matter--potentially explaining puzzling anomalies like gravitational variability from summer to winter, and during eclipses. The same principles are applied to motion and lift: whether dust particles, birds, planes, fish, or sailboats, movement through air or water is reinterpreted as a consequence of charge interactions with the Earth. Taken together, these sections propose an alternative framework in which electricity plays a central, often overlooked role in shaping the forces and motions of the natural world.