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2750 BCE
Ancient Egyptian texts described electric fish and identified them with thunder
An electric fish is any fish that can generate electric fields. A fish that can generate electric fields is said to be electrogenic while a fish that has the ability to detect electric fields is said to be electroreceptive. Most electrogenic fish are also electroreceptive. -
600 BCE
Thales of Miletus described static electricity by rubbing fur on substances such as amber
Static electricity is an imbalance of electric charges within or on the surface of a material. The charge remains until it is able to move away by means of an electric current or electrical discharge. Static electricity is named in contrast with current electricity, which flows through wires or other conductors and transmits energy. -
800
Arabic naturalists and physicians described electric fish and electrostatic phenomena
Since classical physics, it has been known that some materials, such as amber, attract lightweight particles after rubbing. The Greek word for amber, ήλεκτρον, or electron, was the source of the word 'electricity'. Electrostatic phenomena arise from the forces that electric charges exert on each other -
1300
Arabic naturalists and physicians described electric rays and identified them with lightning
The electric rays are a group of rays, flattened cartilaginous fish with enlarged pectoral fins, composing the order Torpediniformes. They are known for being capable of producing an electric discharge, ranging from 8 to 220 volts, depending on species, used to stun prey and for defense. -
English scientist William Gilbert coined the word electricus after careful experiments.
William Gilbert (/ˈɡɪlbərt/; 24 May 1544 – 30 November 1603), also known as Gilberd,[1] was an English physician, physicist and natural philosopher. He passionately rejected both the prevailing Aristotelian philosophy and the Scholastic method of university teaching. -
English scientist Francis Hauksbee made a glass ball that glowed when spun and rubbed with the hand
Francis Hauksbee the Elder FRS (1660–1713), also known as Francis Hawksbee, was an 18th-century English scientist best known for his work on electricity and electrostatic repulsion. -
English scientist Stephen Gray made the distinction between insulators and conductors
Stephen Gray was an English dyer and astronomer who was the first to systematically experiment with electrical conduction. Until his work in 1729 the emphasis had been on the simple generation of static charges and investigations of the static phenomena (electric shocks, plasma glows, etc.). He also first made the distinction between conduction and insulation, and discovered the action-at-a-distance phenomenon of electrostatic induction. -
German physicist Ewald Georg von Kleist and Dutch scientist Pieter van Musschenbroek invented Leyden jars
Ewald Georg von Kleist was a German jurist, A member of the von Kleist family, Ewald was born in Vietzow in Farther Pomerania. He studied jurisprudence at the University of Leipzig and the University of Leyden and may have started his interest in electricity at the latter university under the influence of Willem 's Gravesande. From 1722-1745 he was dean of the cathedral at Kammin in the Kingdom of Prussia, after which he became president of the royal court of justice in Köslin. -
American scientist Benjamin Franklin showed that lightning was electrical by flying a kite, and explained how Leyden jars work
A Leyden jar (or Leiden jar) is an antique electrical component which stores a high-voltage electric charge (from an external source) between electrical conductors on the inside and outside of a glass jar. It typically consists of a glass jar with metal foil cemented to the inside and the outside surfaces, and a metal terminal projecting vertically through the jar lid to make contact with the inner foil. It was the original form of the capacitor. -
Italian scientist Luigi Galvani discovered the Galvanic action in living tissue
Galvanic corrosion (also called bimetallic corrosion) is an electrochemical process in which one metal corrodes preferentially when it is in electrical contact with another, in the presence of an electrolyte. A similar galvanic reaction is exploited in primary cells to generate a useful electrical voltage to power portable devices. -
French physicist Charles-Augustin de Coulomb formulated and published Coulomb's law in his paper Premier Mémoire sur l’Électricité et le Magnétisme
Coulomb's law, or Coulomb's inverse-square law, is an experimental law of physics that quantifies the amount of force between two stationary, electrically charged particles. The electric force between charged bodies at rest is conventionally called electrostatic force or Coulomb force.
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French mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace developed the Laplace transform to transform a linear differential equation to an algebraic equation. Later, his transform became a tool in circuit analysis.
In mathematics, the Laplace transform is an integral transform named after its inventor Pierre-Simon Laplace. It transforms a function of a real variable t to a function of a complex variable s (complex frequency). The transform has many applications in science and engineering. -
Italian physicist Alessandro Volta invented the battery
Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta was an Italian physicist, chemist, and pioneer of electricity and power who is credited as the inventor of the electric battery and the discoverer of methane. He invented the Voltaic pile in 1799, and reported the results of his experiments in 1800 in a two-part letter to the President of the Royal Society. -
Atomic theory by John Dalton
John Dalton was an English chemist, physicist, and meteorologist. He is best known for introducing the atomic theory into chemistry, and for his research into colour blindness, sometimes referred to as Daltonism in his honour. -
English inventor Francis Ronalds built the first working electric telegraph
An electrical telegraph was a point-to-point text messaging system, used from the 1840s until better systems became widespread. It used coded pulses of electric current through dedicated wires to transmit information over long distances. It was the first electrical telecommunications system, the most widely used of a number of early messaging systems called telegraphs, devised to send text messages more rapidly than written messages could be sent. -
Danish physicist Hans Christian Ørsted accidentally discovered that an electric field creates a magnetic field
Hans Christian Ørsted often rendered Oersted in English was a Danish physicist and chemist who discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields, which was the first connection found between electricity and magnetism. Oersted's law and the oersted are named after him. -
One week after Ørsted's discovery, French physicist André-Marie Ampère published his law. He also proposed right-hand screw rule
André-Marie Ampère was a French physicist and mathematician who was one of the founders of the science of classical electromagnetism, which he referred to as "electrodynamics". He is also the inventor of numerous applications, such as the solenoid (a term coined by him) and the electrical telegraph. An autodidact, Ampère was a member of the French Academy of Sciences and professor at the École polytechnique and the Collège de France. -
German scientist Thomas Johann Seebeck discovered thermoelectricity
Thomas Johann Seebeck was a Baltic German physicist, who, in 1822, observed a relationship between heat and magnetism. Later, in 1823, Ørsted called this phenomenon thermoelectric effect. The thermoelectric effect is the direct conversion of temperature differences to electric voltage and vice versa via a thermocouple. Thermoelectric devices create a voltage when there is a different temperature on each side. -
English physicist William Sturgeon developed the first electromagnet
William Sturgeon was an English physicist and inventor who made the first electromagnets, and invented the first practical English electric motor. An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by an electric current. Electromagnets usually consist of wire wound into a coil. -
German physicist Georg Ohm introduced the concept of electrical resistance
Georg Simon Ohm was a German physicist and mathematician. The electrical resistance of an object is a measure of its opposition to the flow of electric current. The inverse quantity is electrical conductance, and is the ease with which an electric current passes. Electrical resistance shares some conceptual parallels with the notion of mechanical friction. The SI unit of electrical resistance is the ohm (Ω), while electrical conductance is measured in siemens (S). -
English physicist Michael Faraday published the law of induction (Joseph Henry developed the same law independently)
Michael Faraday FRS was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism and electrolysis.
Faraday's law of induction (briefly, Faraday's law) is a basic law of electromagnetism predicting how a magnetic field will interact with an electric circuit to produce an electromotive force (EMF)—a phenomenon known as electromagnetic induction. -
American scientist Joseph Henry in United States developed a prototype DC motor
Joseph Henry was an American scientist who served as the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. A DC motor is any of a class of rotary electrical machines that converts direct current electrical energy into mechanical energy. The most common types rely on the forces produced by magnetic fields. Nearly all types of DC motors have some internal mechanism, either electromechanical or electronic, to periodically change the direction of current in part of the motor. -
French instrument maker Hippolyte Pixii in France developed a prototype DC generator
In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motive power (mechanical energy) into electrical power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam turbines, gas turbines, water turbines, internal combustion engines, wind turbines and even hand cranks. The first electromagnetic generator, the Faraday disk, was invented in 1831 by British scientist Michael Faraday. Generators provide nearly all of the power for electric power grids. -
Michael Faraday developed laws of electrolysis
Michael Faraday was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses a direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of elements from naturally occurring sources such as ores using an electrolytic cell. -
Michael Faraday invented thermistor
Michael Faraday invented a thermistor is a type of resistor whose resistance is dependent on temperature, more so than in standard resistors. The word is a combination of thermal and resistor. Thermistors are widely used as inrush current limiters, temperature sensors (negative temperature coefficient) self-resetting overcurrent protectors, and self-regulating heating elements.
