History of Electricity

Electricity

Electricity as a phenomenon has occurred in nature since the beginning of time. From electric eels to lighting to static electricity, these have been an integral part of nature for millions of years. But starting in the 1600’s European scientists begin understanding the science behind electricity and how it can be harnessed for use by humans. Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison’s contributions revolutionized how electricity is harnessed and used for personal use. Our modern society’s luxuries are shaped by these early discoveries.

Early History

In ancient Egypt, there are signs that the study of electricity was prevalent long before recorded knowledge. In an underground cavern below the Hathor-temple in Dendera, Egypt there are several relief's depicting ancient devices, these controversial relief's are known as the Dendera lights. Two arms reach into its bulbous rounded end, these arms are supported by columns which are called Djed Pillars or Tet Columns, but very much resemble high voltage insulators. At the thin end of the Dendera lights runs something resembling a cable into the glass bulb. Extending the length of the glass bulb is a snake hanging horizontally in the air. The whole arrangement bears an striking resemblance to an electric lamp.

In approximately 600 B.C., Thales of Miletus rubs amber with cat fur. When rubbed it aquires the property of attracting light objects such as feathers. In Greek, the word amber translates to “electron”. Thales was incorrect in believing the attraction was due to a magnetic effect, but later science would prove a link between magnetism and electricity.

Possibly the earliest and nearest approach to the discovery of the identity of lightning, and electricity from any other source, is to be attributed to the Arabs, who before the 15th century had the Arabic word for lightning(raad) applied to the electric ray.

An Era of Discovery - 1600's to 1700's

In the 1600’s, the science of electricity begins to yield significant results. Rene Descartes theorizes that the magnetic poles are on the central axis of a spinning vortex. Though Robert Hooke, Issac Newton, Olaf Roemer, Christian Huygens and James Bradley make significant contributions to electricity during this period, it is Benjamin Franklin that is about to embark on ground-breaking discoveries.

Jean-Antoine Nollet was a French clergyman trained in theology. But it was his scientific contributions that made him famous. His love of science was strong and by 1734 he devoted himself to the research of electricity. In 1745 Nollet developed a theory of electrical attraction and repulsion that hypothesized that there was a continuous flow of electrical matter between charged bodies. This single type of electric fluid met its nemesis with Benjamin Franklin.

In 1747 Benjamin Franklin discovers the theory of one-fluid electricity which states that one of Nollet’s fluid exists and the other is just the absence of the first.

Franklin suspected that lightning was an electrical current in nature and set out to prove that he was right. One way to test his idea would be to see if the lightning would pass through metal, which is a conductor. He decided to use a metal key and looked around for a way to get the key up near the lightning. As you probably already know, he used a child's toy, a kite, to prove that lightning is really a stream of electrified air, known today as plasma. His famous stormy kite flight in June of 1752 led him to develop many of the terms that we still use today when we talk about electricity: battery, conductor, condenser, charge, discharge, uncharged, negative, minus, plus, electric shock, and electrician. Franklin had no formal education in the sciences. It was his personal intellect and curiosity that brought about his many electrical experiments.

In 1793 Alessandra Volta makes the first batteries and argues that animal electricity is just ordinary electricity and uses frog legs(link) to prove this theory. When he connects many of these cells together, Volta was able to argue that the “string of current” was capable of creating a current. So notable as this was, the term "Volts" is named in honor of Volta.

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