After recently writing a blog post about the “Quest for Zero Point (Free) Energy,” I thought it was a good time to slap down a quick entry about the history of electricity. This beloved form of power can, of course, come from many sources such as magnets via magnetism, water (hydroelectric power), steam, solar power, wind power and from crude sources like burning coal, gasoline, and other miscellaneous fuels along with the dreaded nuclear power plants that we need less of in this world, and so on.
Toward the end of this post, I’ll provide a few additional resource links and a couple books (shopping links) from Amazon that relate to this subject. One of those books is what got me thinking about various subjects that have to do with the history of things, how stuff got started, etc. Anyway, before I begin with the timeline of electricity, I must say that I’m not going to include a thorough step-by-step progression chart of how the Homo sapiens knowledge of electricity evolved over the centuries. I’ll jot down a few historic tidbits and leave you with a few links so you can further your study, if desired.
On another subject, this small timeline of events only covers standard, basic history facts. In reality or, at least in my opinion, there have been civilizations that lived here long ago that were far more advanced than the human beings of today and most likely had access to some type of crystal technology along with a special skill to use the Earth as a free source of energy and the ability to tap into the grid of Zero Point Energy, etc. Anyway…
Way back in 600 B.C., Thales of Miletus stumbled upon the fact that when you rub a piece of Amber against fur, that it would hold what appeared to be a magnetic property for a short time. The friction was actually creating what was later known as “static electricity.” During the year 1600, William Gilbert (an English physician) published his well-known work about magnetism.
After the year 1700, the “Electrostatic Generator” came to the scene. Using wool threads and a glass globe, the English inventor Francis Hauksbee developed a contraption that could generate static electricity. Not too many years later, 1745-46, a device was invented to store static electricity, by Ewald Georg and Pieter van Musschenbroe.
To prove that lightning was a form of electricity, Benjamin Franklin created a cheap lightning conductor using a kite with a key tied to the string. Dang, talk about being resourceful and ingenious; ha!
This next tidbit would sort of rival with ancient ruins and other things that were allegedly found in the past, like the notion that batteries existed thousands of years ago, but anyway, the first battery was supposedly created in 1799-1800 by Alessandro Volta and was called “Voltaic Pile.” So now you know where the term ‘volt’ came from, eh?
In 1820 electromagnetism was discovered! Hans Christian, a Danish physicist, realizes the relationship between magnets and electricity. This is fairly big because it quickly led to other experiments like the “induction ring” by Michael Faraday, the “electromagnet” by Joseph Henry, along with other people starting to experiment and/or perform experiments with magnetism and electricity, etc.
1878-79, Joseph Swan, a British inventor, creates an “incandescent lamp” that was later modified and improved by Thomas Edison, hence the creation of our much-needed light bulbs; yay!
This next tidbit was interesting to read, as it spoke about how in 1881, the English town of Godalming, Surrey, demonstrated the world’s first public display of electric lighting as it wired the streets full of electricity. A year later, scientists start to realize what is known as hydroelectric power, which is basically using water to generate electricity, and many water-based power plants and dams are built shortly after.
The next couple of years, 1883-84, the famous inventor Nikola Tesla invents a way to transmit electricity over vast distances. Known as the “Tesla Coil,” this invention acts as a catalyst for the progress towards the conveyance of electricity throughout the world. During this same time frame, steam power and steam turbines are developed to generate electricity.
During the 1950s, is when Nuclear Power started taking off. Personally, I would like to see less nuclear power and more alternative ways to generate electricity. There are many things I didn’t list here, but there is definitely a “greener” solution. Which is probably why a few decades after the start of nuclear power, you started hearing more about wind power via wind turbines, etc., and solar power via rechargeable solar panels and cells, etc.
At any rate, I wished I would have studied more about magnets, magnetism, electricity, AC/DC current and whatnot, at an early age. I say that because I think that with a little creativity and intuition, a lot of inventions and cheaper ways of living could have spawned from it, just like many folks that have studied these fields have achieved. I’ve heard of a lot of inventions getting suppressed, as well, but we won’t go into that today. I don’t know, but if I couldn’t figure out how to tap into the ether to harness some Zero Point Energy (ha!), then it would still be pretty nifty to build your own generators and create your own electricity by using magnets and electricity and/or magnetism. Plus, the discovery of the relationship between magnets and electricity is what eventually led to the electric motor, for example.
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—End of Post "History of Electricity - From Magnetism to Nuclear Power..."
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