Discovery journey
William Gilbert
William Gilbert (1544 - 1603) was the court physician of the English Queen Elizabeth.
But he became important as physicist and natural philosopher. He worked with magnetism and electricity in particular.
So it happened that he was the first to be dissatisfied with the ancient state of knowledge. Then he achieved especially outstanding attainments with a wide variety of well-considered experiments. He tested extensively when substances attract each other. Because of clever experiments he got to the following finding:
„Today most of the academics know, that not only amber can be electrified by rubbing but also many other substances.
During my experiments, I could observe that many substances like glass, amber and resin rods will attract other small things, if they have been electrified. But it was apparent to me that only a small magnetic stone attracts heavy pieces of iron.
I have also observed that magnets are particularly strong at their poles, whereas electrified substances have a relatively uniform effect everywhere.
I am sure, that this means that...