How Electricity Actually Works

deludedaudiophile "I have a PhD (yes really - feel free to test me) in solid-state physics, have worked extensively in semiconductor processing"

This is quite funny and amusing and a frequent, common, and typical response that reflects your youth and inexperience so I will help you. While you were waving your degree that you claim to have you completely, entirely, aand totally failed to see that you’d already flunked the test. The proper aanswer was to show that you can think, reason, and apply logic not touting a a degree.

"I have refrained from stating my full qualifications as for the most part, they are not relevant"

You have stated you’re qualifications here on many, multiple, repeated occasions just as you did here.

@jea48 

I skimmed it. What were you questioning?

There seems to be a misconception on this site that Electrical Engineers are not exposed to this and think electrons do all the work. I think that has been incorrect for a very long time. We had a lot of interaction between the engineering and physics faculties at my university.  I do know that antennas were a standard course. Perhaps that is not universally true. I don't know how you could study antennas and still have a simplistic view of electricity. I would expect the same after learning electromagnetics.  Perhaps like most of us we file it away as fundamental knowledge but not important in day to day work where simpler models are sufficient?

@clearthink 

You have stated you’re qualifications here on many, multiple, repeated occasions just as you did here.

It is nice that you have so much interest in me that you have read my posts even if you have misstated what I previously said about myself. Someone so concerned about others post should strive for accuracy. I am disappointed.

@jea48 , perhaps you know nothing you try to talk about. what you've posted comes from the same basics of prior educational university text books. Ralph Morrison isn't describing such basics. He is describing what can be done and how, but at the end any Electric Current  within an enclosed and loaded electric circuit is nothing else as ordered (or directed as described by Ralph) motion of electrons. Find more basic college textbooks on Electrical Engineering, basics of Charge and Ohm's law.