Early Electricity

Electricity is a phenomenon that occurs in nature, so it was not ‘invented’ per se. Who made that initial discovery is somewhat complicated. Many give the credit to Benjamin Franklin, but his experiment only helped build the relationship between lightning and electricity, nothing more.

The truth about the discovery of electricity is a little more complex than men flying kites. It actually goes back more than two thousand years.

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Around 600 BC, in ancient Greece, it was found that the process of rubbing fur on amber created an attraction between the two – so what the Greeks found was static electricity. In addition, researchers and archaeologists in 1930 discovered a copper pot with a sheet in which they believe may have been an ancient battery intended to produce light on ancient Roman sites. When you need an Electrician Essex, visit a site like SM Electrical, an Electrician Essex service.

But in the 17th century, many discoveries related to power had been made, like the discovery of a basic electrostatic generator, differentiating between currents that are positive or negative currents, and materials being classified as either conductors or insulators.

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In 1600, William Gilbert, a physician in England coined the Latin word electricus to describe those substances which give off a force when rubbed against each other. A little later, Thomas Browne, a British scientist, wrote a number of books using the term ‘electricity’ to describe an investigation based on the work of Gilbert.

In 1752, Ben Franklin’s experiment with a kite, keys, and storms. This only proves that small sparks lightning and electricity are the same thing.

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