William Gilbert
Dr William Gilbert
Born	May 24, 1544 Colchester
Died	November 30, 1603 London
Occupation	physician, natural philosopher

William Gilbert, also known as Gilberd (Colchester, England, May 24, 1544 – London, England, November 30, 1603) was an English physician and a natural philosopher. He was an early Copernican, and passionately rejected both the prevailing Aristotelian philosophy and the Scholastic method of university teaching. After gaining his MD from Cambridge in 1569, and a short spell as bursar of St John's College, Cambridge, he left for practice in London and in 1600 was elected President of the College of Physicians (not by that point granted a royal charter). From 1601 until his death in 1603, he was Elizabeth I's own physician, and James VI and I renewed his appointment. At least two notable people have been named William Gilbert: For the 16th century scientist, see William Gilbert For the 19th century novelist and surgeon, see William Gilbert (author) For the 19th century composer of operettas, see W. S. Gilbert For the 19th century Rugby identity, see William Gilbert (Rugby... Image File history File links William_Gilbert. ... The town of Colchester is the main settlement in the East of England borough of Colchester, Essex. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the town in England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... is the 144th day of the year (145th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events April 11 - Battle of Ceresole - French forces under the Comte dEnghien defeat Imperial forces under the Marques Del Vasto near Turin. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... is the 334th day of the year (335th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1603 (MDCIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... This article needs cleanup. ... College name The College of Saint John the Evangelist of the University of Cambridge Motto Souvent me Souvient (Latin: I often remember) Named after The Hospital of Saint John the Evangelist Established 1511 Location St. ... College building by Denys Lasdun The Royal College of Physicians of London was the first medical institution in England to receive a Royal Charter. ... This article is about Elizabeth I of England. ... James Stuart (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scots as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old. ...

Scientifically, Gilbert is known for his investigations of magnetism and electricity. Gilbert is credited as one of the originators of the term "electricity", and many regard him as the father of electrical engineering or father of electricity.^[1] For other senses of this word, see magnetism (disambiguation). ... Lightning strikes during a night-time thunderstorm. ... Electrical Engineers design power systems… … and complex electronic circuits. ... Lightning strikes during a night-time thunderstorm. ...

His primary work was De Magnete, Magneticisque Corporibus, et de Magno Magnete Tellure (On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies, and on the Great Magnet the Earth) published in 1600. In this work he describes many of his experiments with his model earth called the terrella. From his experiments, he concluded that the Earth was itself magnetic and that this was the reason compasses pointed north (previously, some believed that it was the pole star (Polaris) or a large magnetic island on the north pole that attracted the compass). De Magnete, Magneticisque Corporibus, et de Magno Magnete Tellure (On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies, and on That Great Magnet the Earth) is a scientific work published in 1600 by the English physician and scientist William Gilbert. ... 1600 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Kristian Birkelands magnetised terrella. ... The magnetosphere shields the surface of the Earth from the charged particles of the solar wind. ... In physics, magnetism is a phenomenon by which materials exert an attractive or repulsive force on other materials. ... This article is about the navigational instrument. ... Polaris (α UMi / α Ursae Minoris / Alpha Ursae Minoris), more commonly known as The North Star or simply North Star, is the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor. ...

The English word "electricity" was first used in 1646 by Sir Thomas Browne, derived from Gilbert's 1600 New Latin electricus, meaning "like amber". The term was in use since the 1200s, but Gilbert was the first to use it to mean "like amber in its attractive properties". He recognized that friction with these objects removed an "effluvium", which would cause the attraction effect in returning to the object, though he did not realize that this substance (electric charge) was universal to all materials.^[2] Sir Thomas Browne (October 19, 1605 - October 19, 1682) was an English author of varied works that disclose his wide learning in diverse fields including medicine, religion, science and the esoteric. ... New Latin (or Neo-Latin) is a post-medieval version of Latin, now used primarily in International Scientific Vocabulary cladistics and systematics. ... Electric charge is a fundamental conserved property of some subatomic particles, which determines their electromagnetic interaction. ...

The electric effluvia differ much from air, and as air is the earth's effluvium, so electric bodies have their own distinctive effluvia; and each peculiar effluvium has its own individual power of leading to union, its own movement to its origin, to its fount, and to the body emitting the effluvium.

—De Magnete, English translation by Paul Fleury Mottelay, 1893

In his book, he also studied static electricity using amber; amber is called elektron in Greek, so Gilbert decided to call its effect the electric force. De Magnete, Magneticisque Corporibus, et de Magno Magnete Tellure (On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies, and on That Great Magnet the Earth) is a scientific work published in 1600 by the English physician and scientist William Gilbert. ... Static electricity is a class of phenomena involving the net charge present on an object; typically referring to charged object with voltages of sufficient magnitude to produce visible attraction, repulsion, and sparks. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

Like others of his day, he believed that "crystal" (quartz) was an especially hard form of water, formed from compressed ice: Quartz (from German Quarz[1]) is the second most common mineral in the Earths continental crust. ... Impact from a water drop causes an upward rebound jet surrounded by circular capillary waves. ... Snowflakes by Wilson Bentley, 1902 Ice is the name given to any one of the 14 known solid phases of water. ...

Lucid gems are made of water; just as Crystal, which has been concreted from clear water, not always by a very great cold, as some used to judge, and by very hard frost, but sometimes by a less severe one, the nature of the soil fashioning it, the humour or juices being shut up in definite cavities, in the way in which spars are produced in mines.

—De Magnete, English translation by Silvanus Phillips Thompson, 1900

Gilbert argued that electricity and magnetism were not the same thing. For evidence, he (incorrectly) pointed out that, while electrical attraction disappeared with heat, magnetic attraction did not. It took James Clerk Maxwell to show that both effects were aspects of a single force: electromagnetism. Even then, Maxwell simply surmised this in his A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism after much analysis. By keeping clarity, Gilbert's strong distinction advanced science for nearly 250 years. De Magnete, Magneticisque Corporibus, et de Magno Magnete Tellure (On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies, and on That Great Magnet the Earth) is a scientific work published in 1600 by the English physician and scientist William Gilbert. ... Silvanus Thompson (1851 - 1916)[1] Silvanus Phillips Thompson FRS (June 19, 1851 – June 12, 1916) was a professor of physics at the City and Guilds Technical College in Finsbury, England. ... James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and theoretical physicist from Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. His most significant achievement was aggregating a set of equations in electricity, magnetism and inductance — eponymously named Maxwells equations — including an important modification (extension) of the Ampères... A young Maxwell at university. ...

Gilbert's magnetism was the invisible force that many other natural philosophers, such as Kepler, seized upon, incorrectly, as governing the motions that they observed. While not attributing magnetism to attraction among the stars, Gilbert pointed out the motion of the skies were due to earth's rotation, and not the rotation of the spheres, 20 years before Galileo (see external reference below). For other senses of this word, see magnetism (disambiguation). ... Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630) was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, and a key figure in the 17th century astronomical revolution. ... Galileo can refer to: Galileo Galilei, astronomer, philosopher, and physicist (1564 - 1642) the Galileo spacecraft, a NASA space probe that visited Jupiter and its moons the Galileo positioning system Life of Galileo, a play by Bertolt Brecht Galileo (1975) - screen adaptation of the play Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht...

A unit of magnetomotive force, also known as magnetic potential, was named the gilbert in his honor. In physics, the magnetomotive force produces magnetic flux. ... In physics, the magnetic potential is a method of representing the magnetic field by using a potential value instead of the actual vector field. ... Gilbert is a masculine name, from Germanic gisel hostage, pledge and beraht bright. // Gilbert of Sempringham Gilbert of England aka Gilbertus Anglicus Gilbert, Arkansas, town in Arkansas, USA Gilbert, Arizona, town in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA Gilbert, Iowa, town in Story County, Iowa, USA Gilbert, Louisiana, town in Franklin Parish...

Gilbert died on November 30, 1603. His cause of death is thought to have been the bubonic plague.^{[citation needed]} is the 334th day of the year (335th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1603 (MDCIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... The bubonic plague or bubonic fever is the best-known variant of the deadly infectious disease caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis. ...

Whilst today he is generally referred to as William Gilbert, he also went under the name of William Gilberd. The latter was used in his and his father's epitaph, the records of the town of Colchester, the Biographical Memoir in De Magnete, and the name of The Gilberd School in Colchester, named after Gilbert. Since their opening on 12th July 1912 the buildings on North Hill, Colchester, have seen many changes, although the exterior structure is almost unaltered. ...

Further reading

1. ^ Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, 2000, CD-ROM, version 2.5.
2. ^ Niels H. de V. Heathcote (December 1967). "The early meaning of electricity: Some Pseudodoxia Epidemica - I". Annals of Science 23 (4): pp. 261-275. DOI:10.1080/00033796700203316. Retrieved on 2007-07-16. 

• Gilbert, William. (1600), De Magnete (About the Magnet). Translated 1893 from Latin to English by Paul Fleury Mottelay, Dover Books, paperback.
• Leary, Warren E. (2000), Celebrating the Book That Ushered In the Age of Science, The New York Times, June 13, 2000.
• Pumfrey, Stephen & Tilley, David. (2003). William Gilbert: forgotten genius, Physics World, November; online edition
• Pumfrey, Stephen. (2002). Latitude & the Magnetic Earth, Icon Books, paperback.
• Shipley, Brian C (August 2003). "Gilbert, Translated: Silvanus P. Thompson, the Gilbert Club, and the Tercentenary Edition of De Magnete". Canadian Journal of History. 

Merriam-Webster, originally known as the G. & C. Merriam Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, is a United States company that publishes reference books, especially dictionaries that are descendants of Noah Websters An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 197th day of the year (198th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Physics World cover from the February 2005 issue Physics World is the membership magazine of the Institute of Physics, one of the largest physical societies in the world. ...

External links

• The Galileo Project — biography of William Gilbert.
• On the Magnet — Translation of De Magnete by Silvanus Thompson for the Gilbert Club, London 1900. Full text, free to read and search. Go to page 9 and read Gilbert saying the earth revolves leading to the motion of the skies.
• The Great Magnet, the Earth — website hosted by NASA — Commemorating the 400th anniversary of "De Magnete" by William Gilbert of Colchester.
• William Gilbert Founder Of Terrestrial Magnetism