The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2009)
“I’d always seen them on bicycles, the way they were attached to the wheel like a tiny metal bottle, but I’d never paid them much attention. But one evening, my father’s friend rode up to our house on a bicycle with a lamp powered by a dynamo. As soon as he hopped off the bike, the light switched off.
“What made the lamp go off?” I asked. I hadn’t seen him turn a switch.
“The dynamo,” he said. “I stopped pedaling.”
Once he went inside to see my father, I jumped on his bike to try it myself, to s...ee if I could make the lamp work. Sure enough, after a few meters of pedaling, the light came on. I got off, flipped the bike over, and traced the wires from the lamp all the way down to the rear tire, where the dynamo was attached. The dynamo had its own metal wheel that pressed against the rubber. Turning the pedal with my hand, the tire spun round and also spun the wheel of the dynamo. Then the light came on.
I couldn’t get this out of my head. How did spinning a wheel create light?MoreLess
“What made the lamp go off?” I asked. I hadn’t seen him turn a switch.
“The dynamo,” he said. “I stopped pedaling.”
Once he went inside to see my father, I jumped on his bike to try it myself, to s...ee if I could make the lamp work. Sure enough, after a few meters of pedaling, the light came on. I got off, flipped the bike over, and traced the wires from the lamp all the way down to the rear tire, where the dynamo was attached. The dynamo had its own metal wheel that pressed against the rubber. Turning the pedal with my hand, the tire spun round and also spun the wheel of the dynamo. Then the light came on.
I couldn’t get this out of my head. How did spinning a wheel create light?MoreLess
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Guest 4 years ago
A book to be read by anyone who thinks the impossible is impossible. Also a look at the extreme conditions many people must overcome just to survive."I went to sleep dreaming of Malawi, and all the things made possible when your dreams are powered by your heart."
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