JA-623 and JA-645: Lesson 12
Electrical science discovery timeline
(20 Jun 2012)
© 2012 C. Rightmyer, Licensed under The MIT OSI License, 20 July 2012
Yum. Fire good. More wood!
• Archeological findings
indicate that Homo erectus
(early mankind) learned to
use fossil fuels about 1.8
million years ago.
• Fire, or some other
method of seeking warmth
was really important for
human survival. Since the
first use of fire, the earth
has gone through 18 ice
age cycles.
The invention of a self-seading plow around
2500 BC spurned urban civilization
http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/TRC/MESO/science.html
(1700 BC) Hammurabi King of Babylon
• Transformed small city-state into
a large empire. Ruled for 40 years
• Established rule of law and order
• Built temples, irrigation canals,
defensive fortifications.
• Promoted agriculture.
• Advanced sciences and literary arts:
- Recorded all metals known to
exist at that time.
- Mapped heavely bodies
http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/MiddleEast/Hammurabi.html
http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/people/p/Hammurabi.htm
(~ 450 BC) King Nebuchadnezzar II Hanging Gardens
http://www.unmuseum.org/hangg.htm
Early Greek philosophers attempt to explain
the origin of universe
• Thales of Miletus (582 BC) suggests
that water is basic substance of life.
• Anaximenes of Miletus (535 BC)
counters that air is the fundamental
substance.
• Empedocles of Acragas (445)
suggests there are actually four
different fundamental elements:
earth, air, water, fire
• Leucippus of Miletus (435 BC) (and
others) proposes that the basic
elements are tiny corpuscles called
“atoms” -- meaning indivisible. He
is definitely on the right track.
Http://realscience.breckschool.org/upper/fruen/files/Enrichmentarticles/files/History.html
(325 BC) Aristotle of ancient Greece
turns science down a blind alley
“ There are only four elements: fire, air, water, and earth and
these four elements have four properties: hot, cold, dry, and
wet.”
Http:/www.columbia.edu/itc/chemistry/chem-c2507/navbar/chemhist.html
First modern listing of 23
known elements (1789)
Iron smelting
1820
1840
1860
1880
1900
Dalton’s atomic theory (1803)
Mendeleev’s periodic table (1869)
Light spectrum analysis (1901)
Hydrogen (1500)
Antimony (1540)
0
Arsenic (1250)
1,000
Zinc (800)
Chromium (0)
Mercury (1500)
2000
1920
Hafnium (1922)
Technetium (1937)
Francium (1939)
1800
Tin (2000)
Sulfur (~2000)
3,000
Yttrium (1840)
Uranium (1841)
Erbium (1842)
Ruthenium (1844)
Terbium (1842)
Tantalum (1844)
Ytterbium (1878)
Rubidium (1861)
Holmium (1878)
Thallium (1862)
Neon (1898)
Thulium (1879)
Niobium (1864)
Actinium (1899)
Scandium (1879)
Gallium (1875)
Samarium (1879)
Indium (1867)
Caesium (1882)
Gadolinium (1886)
Dysprosium (1886) Praseodymium (1885)
Neodymium (1885)
Germanium (1886)
Helium (1895)
Fluorine (1886)
Krypton (1898)
Argon (1894)
Europium (1901)
Rhenium (1908)
Lutetium (1901)
Radon (1910)
Polonium (1902
Protactinium (1913)
Radium (1902)
Lutetium (1906)
Silicon (1824)
Zirconium (1824)
Titanium (1825)
Aluminum (1825)
1780
Beryllium (1828)
Thorium (1829)
Vanadium (1830)
1760
Osmium (1803)
Palladium (1803)
Iridium (1803)
Rhodium (1804)
Potassium (1807)
4,000
Sodium (1807)
Calcium (1808)
Boron (1808)
Magnesium (1808)
Strontium (1808)
Silver (~4000)
Iron (4000)
Lead (3800)
Gold (5500)
Copper (6000)
5,000
Molybdenum (1781)
Tungsten (1783)
Carbon (1789)
Tellurium (1795)
1740
Oxygen (1771)
Nitrogen (1772)
Chlorine (1774)
Manganese (1774)
Sulfur (1777)
Nickel (1751)
Bismuth (1753)
Cobalt (1732)
Platinum (1735)
Phosphorus (1669)
1720
Barium (1808)
Iodine (1811)
Lithium (1817)
Cadmium (1817)
Selenium (1817)
First element isolated chemically
BC
6,000
History of element discovery
1,000
AD
2,000
1940
X-ray spectrum
analysis (1922)
(1600) William Gilbert writes “De magnete”
• Physician to Queen Elizabeth I.
• Studied electric attraction, electric force,
and magnetism over his entire lifetime.
Recorded his research and experiments
in a 6-book treatis on these subjects.
• After experiments with a terrella
(spherical magnet), he proposed that the
earth is a giant magnet.
• Coined term “electricity” from the
Greek word for amber.
• Guessed correctly that iron can be
temporarily magnetized by induction.
(1655) Otto von Guericke invents 1st vacuum pump
(1657) Magdeburg experiment
http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Pneumatics/Magdeburg_Hemispheres/Magdeburg_Hemispheres.html
http://www.bookrags.com/biography/otto-von-guericke-woi/
(1663) Guericke invents friction based spark
generating machine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_Guericke
(1669) Hennig Brandt discovers phosphorus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Wright_of_Derby
http://www3.ul.ie/~childsp/CinA/Issues60/TOC55_Urine.htm
(1729) Stephen Gray discovers conduction
Conducting hemp thread
connected to ivory ball
glass tube with cork
charged by rubbing
Charge observed at
a distance of 800 feet
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Stephen_Gray_(scientist)
(1733) Charles du Fay proposes that electrical charge
comes in two forms: resinous (-) & vitreous (+)
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Cisternay_Du_Fay%2C_Charles_Fran%C3%A7ois_de
(1745) George von Kleist discovers principles of the
Leyden jar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewald_Georg_von_Kleist
(1746) Pieter van Musschenbroek invents
the Leyden jar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pieter_van_Musschenbroek.jpeg
(1747) Benjamin Franklin theorizes existance of an
electrical fluid composed of (+) and (-) particles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin
[Intro to College Physics, Appleton-Century-Crofts,
R.D. Rusk, 1960]
(1767) Joseph Priestley discovers that electricity
follows Newton’s inverse-square law
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Priestley
(1777) Charles Coulomb measures the attracting and
repelling forces of charged particles
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Charles-Augustin_de_Coulomb
(1786) Luigi Galvani’s accidental discovery
[Electricity & Magnetism, Adamczyk & Law, Usborne Publishing, 1993]
(1789) Antoine Laurent Lavoisier discovers
oxygen and prepares first comprehensive listing
of the 23 known elements of his day
http://cti.itc.virginia.edu/~meg3c/classes/tcc313/200Rprojs/lavoisier2/home.html
(1800) Alessandro Volta invents the first electric
battery and proved electric conduction over wires
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=alessandro+volta+pictures
&view=detail&id=
5AEB16AB7A7609B55042FE106F1CDF5680093CAE&first=0
G. Stevens, Electricity and Magnetism
(1803) John Dalton publishes his atomic theory.
http://www.iun.edu/~cpanhd/C101webnotes/composition/dalton.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Daltons_symbols.gif
(1820) Hans Christian Oersted observes that
an electric current generates a magnetic field
Conventional
current direction
[Intro to College Physics, Appleton-Century-Crofts, R.D. Rusk, 1960]
(1820) Andre-Marie Ampere discovers that a
coil of wire acts like a magnet
+
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9-Marie_Amp%C3%A8re
-
(1821) Michael Faraday demonstrates the
concept of an electric motor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Faraday_magnetic_rotation.jpg
(1827) George Simon Ohm develops Ohm’s Law
Voltage = (current) x (resistance)
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Ohm.html
(1827) Jedlik Ányos István builds an
electromagnetic self-rotor DC motor
Jedlik’s electromagnetic self-rotor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_motor
(1827) Joseph Henry builds an automated pole
changer (commutator) for a DC motor
• Builds an electromagnet capable of
lifting 3500 lbs
• Demonstrates magnetic induction
between conducting wires
(transformer)
• Demonstrates telegraph operation
over a mile of wire
• Invents magnetic circuit switch (relay)
• First CEO of Smithsonian Institution
beginning 1846
http://inventors.about.com/od/hstartinventors/a/Joseph_Henry.htm
(1832) William Sturgeon builds
commutator-type DC electric motor
Modern 5 coil commutated rotor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_motor
(1832) Hippolyte Pixii builds first AC generator
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippolyte_Pixii
(1835) Charles Wheatstone discovers metals can be
distinguished by the emission spectra of their sparks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrum_analysis
(1839) William Robert Grove develops the first
fuel-cell battery
An example modern fuel cell
http://americanhistory.si.edu/fuelcells/basics.htm#q4
(1840) James Prescott Joule publishes
his law of electrical heating
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Joule%27s_heat_apparatus.JPG
(1855) Heinrich Geissler’s invents the vacuum tube
http://www.sparkmuseum.com/GLASS.HTM
http://www.nndb.com/people/169/000206548/
(1857) A rare multi-bulb Geissler tube
containing four different fluorescent fluids
Fluorescent fluids: Rhodanine, Eosine, Flourecine, and Authacein
http://www.sparkmuseum.com/GLASS.HTM
(1869) D. Mendeleev publishes his periodic table
http://www.aip.org/history/curie/periodic.htm
(1861) James Clerk Maxwell publishes
“On physical lines of force”
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Postcard-from-Maxwell-to-Tait.jpg
(1879) William Crookes demonstrates that
cathode rays exert a force
http://www.sparkmuseum.com/GLASS.HTM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Crookes
(1879) Thomas Edison demonstrates
his incandescent lamp
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/edison/timeline/index.html
(1886) William Stanley develops the
first commercial transformer
http://www.ehow.com/about_4690085_who-invented-transformer.html#ixzz1mZjwqnDR
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blstanley.htm
(1884) Nikola Tesla sells patents for his
rotating field AC dynamos, transformers, and motors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla
(1895) Wilhelm Roentgen discovers X-rays which
caused fluorescence of barium platinocynide
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1901/rontgen-bio.html
(1896) Hendrik Antoon Lorentz proposes that
light waves are oscillations of electric charge
Http://www.mcallister.com/vacuum.html
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1902/lorentz-bio.html
(1896) Henri Becquerel discovers a pitchblend
compound that fluoresces without aide of X-rays
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1901/rontgen-bio.html
(1897) J.J. Thomson discovers the electron
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._J._Thomson
(1898) Marie Curie discovers radium and polonium
in the uranium material called pitchblend
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Currie
(1904) John Fleming invents the
diode rectifier vacuum tube
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Currie
(1909) Robert Millikan uses oil droplets in an electric
field to measure the mass and charge of an electron
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Millikan
(1910) Ernest Rutherford discovered the proton
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Rutherford
(1913) Neils Bohr improves the
Rutherford atomic model
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niels_Bohr
(1932) James Chadwick discovers the neutron
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niels_Bohr
(1932) Enrico Fermi bombards elements with neutrons to
produce elements of the next higher atomic number
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Fermi
(1947) William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter
Brattain invent the transistor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor
(1951) Dutch-American Philips Gloeilampen Fabrieken
develops commercially available X-ray spectroscopy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_spectroscopy
Appendix background material
(1675) Robert Boyle prove that air is required for
animal respiration
Http://www.mcallister.com/vacuum.html
Discover the hidden alphabet
Nicknames of 88 stellar constellations
and
ant
aps
aql
aqr
ara
ari
aur
boo
cae
cam
cnc
cap
cvn
cma
cmi
cap
car
cas
cen
cep
cet
cha
cir
col
com
cra
crb
crv
crt
cru
cxg
del
dor
dra
eql
eri
for
g em
g ru
her
hor
hya
hyi
ind
kac
leo
lmi
lep
lib
lup
lyn
lyr
men
mic
mon
mus
nor
oct
oph
ori
pav
peg
per
phe
pic
psc
psc
pup
qyx
ret
sg y
sg r
sco
scl
sct
ser
sez
tau
tel
tri
tra
tuc
uma
umi
vel
vir
vol
vul
Alphabet
English pronounciation
alpha
beta
chi
delta
epsilon
phi
gamma
eta
iota
kappa
lambda
mu
nu
omicron
pi
theta
rho
sigma
tau
upsilon
omega
xi
phi
zeta
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/howto/Constellation_names.html
English
letter
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
I
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
w
x
y
z
Discover the hidden alphabet
Nicknames of 88 stellar constellations
and
ant
aps
aql
aqr
ara
ari
aur
boo
cae
cam
cnc
cap
cvn
cma
cmi
cap
car
cas
cen
cep
cet
cha
cir
col
com
cra
crb
crv
crt
cru
cxg
del
dor
dra
eql
eri
for
g em
g ru
her
hor
hya
hyi
ind
kac
leo
lmi
lep
lib
lup
lyn
lyr
men
mic
mon
mus
nor
oct
oph
ori
pav
peg
per
phe
pic
psc
psc
pup
qyx
ret
sg y
sg r
sco
scl
sct
ser
sez
tau
tel
tri
tra
tuc
uma
umi
vel
vir
vol
vul
Alphabet
English pronounciation
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
I
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
w
x
y
z
alpha
beta
chi
delta
epsilon
phi
gamma
eta
iota
kappa
lambda
mu
nu
omicron
pi
theta
rho
sigma
tau
upsilon
omega
xi
phi
zeta
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/howto/Constellation_names.html
English
letter
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
I
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
t
u
w
x
y
z