Bibliographical history of electricity & magnetism : chronologically arranged / Researches into the domain of the early sciences, especially from the period of the revival of scholasticism, with biographical and other accounts of the most distinguished natural philosophers throughout the middle ages, comp. by Paul Fleury Mottelay ; with introduction by the late Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson and foreword by Sir R.T. Glazebrook.

  • Mottelay, Paul Fleury, 1841-
Date:
1922
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Bibliographical history of electricity & magnetism : chronologically arranged / Researches into the domain of the early sciences, especially from the period of the revival of scholasticism, with biographical and other accounts of the most distinguished natural philosophers throughout the middle ages, comp. by Paul Fleury Mottelay ; with introduction by the late Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson and foreword by Sir R.T. Glazebrook. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR TAKEN FOR A PASSPORT TO FRANCE A FEW WEEKS BEFORE HIS DEATH FOREWORD BY SIR RICHARD T. GLAZEBROOK, K.C.B., D.Sc., F.R.S. Past President of the Institute of Electrical Engineers and late Director of the National Physical Laboratory This splendid volume has a tragic story. Dedicated to Lord Kelvin, it opens with an introduction by Silvanus Thompson and a preface by the distinguished author who himself passed from us before the book containing the fruit of many years of toil was ready for issue. And what toil ! A Bibliographical History of Electricity and Magnetism covering 4458 years, from 2637 b.c., when Hoang-Ti, Emperor of China, is said to have directed the pursuit of his troops after a rebellious subject by the aid of the compass, up to Christmas Day, A.u. 1821, when Faraday first caused a wire carrying a cur¬ rent to rotate in a magnetic field. The early centuries are passed over quickly. Homer’s name occurs with quotations from the Odyssey: “ In wondrous ships self-mov’d, instinct with mind, No helm secures their course, no pilot guides ; Like men intelligent, they plough the tides.’’ Does this mean that the Greeks knew of the compass? The author is doubtful. To follow Title.]