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William Gilbert

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Historical figures

         William Gilberto
   Dr William Gilbert (Gilberd)
   Born 1544
        Colchester
   Died 1603
        London

   William Gilbert, or less commonly Gilberd, was born May 24, 1544,
   Colchester, England and died November 30, 1603, in London, probably of
   the plague.Gilbert was an English physician to Elizabeth I and James I
   and natural philosopher known for his investigations of magnetism and
   electricity. Gilbert was the originator of the term "electricity" and
   many regard him as the father of electrical engineering or father of
   electricity.

   His primary work was De Magnete, Magneticisque Corporibus, et de Magno
   Magnete Tellure (On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies, and on the Great
   Magnet the Earth) published in 1600. In this work he describes many of
   his experiments with his model earth called the terrella. From his
   experiments, he concluded that the Earth was itself magnetic and that
   this was the reason compasses pointed north (previously, some believed
   that it was the pole star ( Polaris) or a large magnetic island on the
   north pole that attracted the compass). In his book, he also studied
   static electricity using amber; amber is called elektron in Greek, so
   Gilbert decided to call its effect the electric force.

   Gilbert strongly argued that electricity and magnetism were not the
   same thing. For evidence, he (incorrectly) pointed out that electrical
   attraction disappeared with heat, magnetic attraction did not. It took
   James Clerk Maxwell to show electromagnetism is, in fact, two sides of
   the same coin. Even then, Maxwell simply surmised this in his A
   Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism after much analysis. By keeping
   clarity, Gilbert's strong distinction advanced science for nearly 250
   years.

   Gilbert's magnetism was the invisible force that many other natural
   philosophers, such as Kepler, seized upon, incorrectly, as governing
   the motions that they observed. While not attributing magnetism to
   attraction among the stars, Gilbert pointed out the motion of the skies
   were due to earth's rotation, and not the rotation of the spheres, 20
   years before Galileo, see external reference below.

   A unit of magnetomotive force, also known as magnetic potential, was
   named the gilbert in his honour.

   Whilst today he is generally referred to as William Gilbert, he also
   went under the name of William Gilberd. The latter was used in his and
   his father's epitaph and, also, in the records of the town of
   Colchester, which would indicate that this is the most correct - see
   Biographical Memoir in De Magnete. Also, The Gilberd School in
   Colchester, named after Gilbert, would seem to confirm this.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gilbert"
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