Sally Adee is a science and technology writer. Most recently, she was a features editor at New Scientist, where she wrote some of its most lasting content, including a 2012 feature that broke the bioelectricity technology to the general public and is cited in Yuval Noah Harari's Homo Deus. Adee's writing has appeared in The New York Times, the Economist, BBC Future, and Quartz. She has spoken on the Economist's Intelligence podcast, NPR's Radiolab, Canadian Broadcasting's The Current, and BBC Breakfast. She is the science consultant for the TV adaptation of Naomi Alderman's The Power (Amazon Studios) and 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. Adee is a citizen of Germany and the US, and lives in London.
**One of Next Big Idea Club's Nonfiction Books to Watch Out for in
2023, one of Science News' Favorite Science Books of 2023, one of
The Telegraph's Top Fifty Books of 2023, one of Behavioral
Scientist's Notable Books of 2023**
"This wonder of a book.... The results are astonishing, as is this
read on the body's cellular bioelectricity and how microcurrents
might change everything for humanity. But this is no trendy
biohacker book; Sally Adee dives deep into two centuries of science
and quackery, going back to a weirdly captivating feud between
18th-century physicists."--New York Post's Best Books of 2023
"Adee entertainingly introduces the electrome, encompassing all the
different roles that electricity plays in living
creatures."--Financial Times (Best Summer Books of 2023)
"The book is packed with...fantastic stuff."--IEEE Spectrum
podcast
"[In] her excellent first book, We Are Electric, about the newly
discovered world of the body's so-called electrome....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. Moreover, she has done so without
apparently drinking the Kool-Aid of today's many bioelectricity
boosters....Adee has performed sterling service in persuading us to
contemplate the benefits and possible implications of what seems
our inevitable electric future."--Simon Winchester, The New York
Times
"Adee wades through piles of up-to-the-minute research about the
human bioelectrical system and how it can be manipulated,
intentionally or not; if nothing else, it will make you marvel anew
at your body as an infinitely intricate machine."--Gregory Cowles,
The New York Times Book Review
"In her engaging debut...[Adee] traces efforts to explore--and
sometimes exploit--the human "electrome," doing full justice to the
complex issues surrounding the body's electric forces."--The New
York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice)
"The research [Adee] describes is certainly remarkable, and her
enthusiasm for bioelectricity's enormous potential makes We Are
Electric a lively read."--The Wall Street Journal
"Fascinating stuff."--Terry Gross, "Fresh Air" (NPR)
"One thing readers might not expect from a book that illustrates
the intricacies of ion channels: It's surprisingly funny....energy
thrums through the book, charging her storytelling like a staticky
balloon. Adee is especially electrifying in a chapter about spinal
nerve regeneration and why initial experiments juddered to a
halt....Such implants bring many challenges -- like how to marry
electronics to living tissue--but Adee's book leaves readers with a
sense of excitement."--ScienceNews.org
"Adee, a former technology watcher for New Scientist, has put
together an admirably comprehensive and clear look at electrical
life, past, present and future....Adee remains impressively
surefooted while balancing all these demands....Add some
enterprising personal reporting, and a slew of good stories...and
the result is entirely readable."--The Arts Desk
"In this ground-breaking book, the electrome is explained simply
and easily for the first time as science and technology writer Adee
investigates how biology and electricity converge in our bodies
(bioelectricity) and the impact this could have on future medical
breakthroughs....[We Are Electric is] a book that'll make you
fundamentally rethink what you know and appreciate about your
body."--Stylist.co (UK)
"A stylish recounting of the story of bioelectricity, its dramatic
history and thrilling possibilities.... Adee is a reassuring guide
through this complex and controversial subject. Her technical
explanations are exemplary, rendering biological processes
comprehensible to those almost entirely uninitiated with the life
sciences.... It is astonishing that We Are Electric is the first
popular science book on this subject; it taps into the magic of
science that we are only on the brink of understanding. A book
which does its fascinating subject justice: elegant, exciting and
expertly written."--The Institution of Engineering and Technology,
E&T Magazine
"The author also tells us - in her often amusing, always engaging
style - that it is the electrome that determines where our heart,
brain or kidneys should be located....It is staggering to learn
here that scientists are using algorithms to decode the electrical
signals from our brain, and, thus, read our thoughts.... Our future
appears electric, and this book does a great job of explaining
why."--Irish Times
"Adee gives an entertaining account... Adee's enthusiasm is
infectious, and she conveys well the jaw-dropping scale and
complexity of this newly discovered 'electrome.' This
'bioelectrical revolution' is more than medicine."--Times of
London
"In her debut book, [Sally Adee] paints a riveting (and often
humorous) picture of 200 years of research on the bioelectricity
coursing through our bodies, from debates over twitching frogs'
legs to devices developed to give sensation back to people with
traumatic nerve injuries."--Scientific American
"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 The Art of More: How Mathematics Created Civilization
"The electrome may be as important to our understanding of life as
the genetic code--yet few of us are aware of these groundbreaking
developments. With scintillating storytelling, Sally Adee takes us
to into the heart of this scientific revolution and its potential
to transform medicine. We Are Electric is science writing at its
very best--it shimmers with wit and insight. Prepare to be
entertained, enlightened, and yes, electrified, by this brilliant
book."--David Robson, author of The Intelligence Trap and The
Expectation Effect
"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 energizing 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 How To Save
The World For Just A Trillion Dollars
"If you thought genetics was the secret of life, think again: in We
Are Electric, Sally Adee vividly explores the magic of
bioelectricity, and how it affects every aspect of our being. A joy
to read--I loved this book."--Joseph Jebelli, author of In Pursuit
of Memory: The Fight Against Alzheimer's
"[Adee] provides a wealth of material to think about. A clear,
intriguing examination of a field with huge potential."--Kirkus
Reviews
"The human body runs on an electricity we barely understand.
Unlocking its secrets has the potential to usher in a new age of
human health interventions that will revolutionize the way we
comprehend and treat our most common maladies. In this fascinating
look at this next frontier of scientific discovery, Sally Adee
explores the untold history of bioelectricity and sketches its
tantalizing, and promising, future."--Jamie Metzl, author of
Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity
"A revelatory survey of bioelectricity...[Adee] masterfully shows
the implications of new discoveries and spotlights where the
science doesn't add up....With lucid explanations and fascinating
anecdotes, Adee is the perfect guide to this hidden realm. Pop
science fans, take note."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Sally Adee manages that most difficult feat in science writing:
taking a subject you didn't know you cared about and making it
genuinely fascinating and exciting. 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
bioelectric medicine. It's a vast and hugely exciting area of
scientific research, shared with infectious enthusiasm, a real
depth of knowledge, a 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
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