Every year, some 1,300 people in the U.S. die by accidental electrocution. But electricity in quantity is not nearly so deadly as most people suppose. Two-thirds of those electrified by potentially lethal currents survive the shock. In fact, the stronger the shock, the better the chance of survival: 40,000 volts or more are only about one-third as lethal as lower voltages.
These are some of the findings reported in the current Electronics by a Westinghouse engineer, H. A. Poehler. Twenty-five states have adopted electrocution as the most efficient method of capital punishment. But...