05/01/2013
History of Electricity
- William Gilbert
The history of electricity begins with William
Gilbert, a physician who served Queen Elizabeth
the first of England. Before William Gilbert, all that
was known about electricity and magnetism was
that the lodestone possessed magnetic
properties, and that rubbing amber and jet would
attract bits of stuff to start sticking.
In 1600, William Gilbert published his treatise De
magnete, Magneticisique Corporibus (On the
Magnet). Printed in scholarly Latin, the book
explained years of Gilbert's research and
experiments on electricity and magnetism. Gilbert
raised the interest in the new science greatly. It
was Gilbert who coined the expression "electrica"
in his famous book.
History of Electricity - Early Inventors
Inspired and educated by William Gilbert several
Europeans inventors, Otto von Guericke of
Germany, Charles Francois Du Fay of France, and
Stephen Gray of England, expanded the
knowledge.
Otto von Guericke proved that a vacuum could
exist. Creating a vacuum was essential for all
kinds of further research into electronics. In
1660, Otto von Guericke invented a machine that
produced static electricity, this was the first
electric generator.
In 1729, Stephen Gray discovered the principle of
the conduction of electricity.
In 1733, Charles Francois du Fay discovered that
electricity comes in two forms which he called
resinous (-) and vitreous (+), now called negative
and positive.
History of Electricity - Leyden Jar
The leyden jar was the original capacitor, a device
that stores and releases an electrical charge. (At
that time electricity was considered the
mysterious fluid or force.) The leyden jar was
invented Holland in 1745 and in Germany almost
simultaneously.
Both Dutch physicist Pieter van Musschenbroek
and German clergyman and scientist, Ewald
Christian Von Kleist invented a leyden jar. When
Von Kleist first touched his leyden jar he received
a powerful shock that knocked him to the floor.
The leyden jar was named after Musschenbroek's
hometown and university Leyden, by Abbe Nolett,
a French scientist, who first coined the term
"Leyden jar". The jar was once called the Kleistian
jar after Von Kleist, but this name did not stick.
History of Electricity - Ben Franklin
Ben Franklin's important discovery was that
electricity and lightning were one and the same.
Ben Franklin's lightning rod was the first practical
application of electricity.