Bottled Lightning

While batteries have existed for more than two centuries, the big leaps in their development have come in the last four decades after scientists began working with lithium-ion technologies. Though, as Fletcher (features editor, Popular Science) shows, "leaps" inaccurately describes the inventive process in battery science; a string of incremental achievements rather than eureka moments have predominated, largely influenced by the supply and price of oil and grunt work guided by the periodic table. Central to the book is the struggle of General Motors to make a viable electric car, and while no doubt familiar to many readers, the story still fascinates in Fletcher's retelling. Then there's the geopolitics of lithium: Bolivia sits on the world's largest lithium reserve but is unable to use it, while Rust Belt Detroit needs it to secure its future.