Discovery journey
Charles du Fay
Charles du Fay (1698 - 1739) came from a French noble family and was a natural scientist.
In his lifetime, he was known as the head of the Chemistry department and the botanical garden of the Royal Academy.
Today he is especially famous for his discoveries in electricity.
Charles du Fay could build on knowledge about electric phenomena which had grown significantly in the mean time.
So he knew, that bodies which have been electrified by friction repel each other.
Based on this knowledge he got a groundbreaking finding resulting from his experiments.
At first, I have rubbed two glass rods against the fur (one after the other) so that those were electrified. If I bring them close to one another now, they will repel each other. Rubbed amber also repels another electrified piece of amber. But if I rub glass and amber against the fur now, something surprising will happen. The two electrified substances suddenly attract one another.
So there must be...