Hertha Ayrton (1854-1923) was a woman of stark contradictions and unyielding rigor. A mathematical prodigy who solved the complex instability of the electric arc, she was simultaneously denied a Cambridge degree and Fellowship in the Royal Society purely because of her gender. This biography explores the life of the pioneering electrical engineer whose work literally illuminated cities and the tireless social reformer who housed suffragettes and joined the militant fight for the vote.

From deriving the foundational Ayrton formula-a scientific law that stabilized industrial lighting-to inventing the life-saving Anti-Gas Fan during WWI, Hertha Ayrton brought the same methodical, empirical discipline to the laboratory and the political platform. Facing systemic exclusion, she used her rigorous scientific mind to dismantle social injustice, proving that the pursuit of truth and the fight for women's rights were one and the same battle.

The Arc and the Vote is the definitive account of the brilliant scientist whose genius exposed the hypocrisy of her age and whose legacy changed both the physical world and the social fabric of the modern era. Approx.130 pages, 23100 word count