Book II, Phosphorus Summary

Until the eighteenth century, people not knowing the danger of lightning search to discover its nature from its appearance rather than in a collision of hot and cold. One hundred million volts channeled between earth and cloud in a fraction of a second can make objects hum and sizzle. It can bake potatoes in the ground and fry a goose in flight. It can expand clothing so it falls off. It can magnetize and restore sight and hair loss. Ball lightning can circle a room without harming it and exit again.

Petra sits alone in Karouzos' courtyard, tosses her hair, and Ben desires her. It is like the imprint made by lightning of scenes on the skin of humans or animals. Ben imagines her imprinted as a child. For three months, he studies the lines, scents, and sounds of...