This is a print on demand publication. The storage battery may seem to be little more than the device which starts a car, but during the hundred years of its commercial existence, it has filled many different roles. These roles have changed with the years, the technology of the storage battery adapting itself to these changes. This book is a study of the evolution & the interaction between changes in the needs for batteries & the response of battery designers to these needs. The chapters separate the different environmental periods of the storage battery. Since the standard lead-acid battery has comprised the vast bulk of all rechargeable battery manufacture, the first four chapters deal solely with it. The last chapter is devoted to nickel-iron & nickel-cadmium batteries, which comprise almost all of the market not covered by lead-acid batteries. Illus.