William Gilbert and Magnetism
The 16th and 17th centuries saw two great pioneers of modern science:
Galileo and Gilbert. The impact of their findings is eminent. Gilbert was the
first modern scientist, also the accredited father of the science of
electricity and magnetism, an Englishman of learning and a physician at
the court of Elizabeth. Prior to him, all that was known of electricity and
magnetism was what the ancients knew, nothing more than that the
lodestone possessed magnetic properties and that amber and jet, when
rubbed, would attract bits of paper or other substances of small specific
gravity. However, he is less well known than he deserves.
Gilbert’s birth pre-dated Galileo. Born in an eminent local family in
Colchester County in the UK, on May 24, 1544, he went to grammar school,
and then studied medicine at St John’s College, Cambridge, graduating in
1573. Later he travelled in the continent and eventually settled down in
London.
He was a very successful and eminent doctor. All this culminated in his
election to the president of the Royal Science Society. He was also
appointed personal physician to the Queen (Elizabeth I), and later knighted
by the Queen. He faithfully served her until her death. However, he didn’t
outlive the Queen for long and died on November 30, 1603, only a few
months after his appointment as personal physician to King James.
Gilbert was first interested in chemistry but later changed his focus due to
the large portion of mysticism of alchemy involved (such as the
transmutation of metal). He gradually developed his interest in physics
after the great minds of the ancient, particularly about the knowledge the
ancient Greeks had about lodestones, strange minerals with the power to
attract iron. In the meantime, Britain became a major seafaring nation in
1588 when the Spanish Armada was defeated, opening the way to British
settlement of America. British ships depended on the magnetic compass,
yet no one understood why it worked. Did the Pole Star attract it, as
Columbus once speculated; or was there a magnetic mountain at the pole,
as described in Odyssey, which ships would never approach, because the
sailors thought its pull would yank out all their iron nails and fittings? For
nearly 20 years, William Gilbert conducted ingenious experiments to
understand magnetism. His works include On the Magnet, Magnetic Bodies,
and the Great Magnet of the Earth.
Gilbert’s discovery was so important to modern physics. He investigated
the nature of magnetism and electricity. He even coined the word
“electric”. Though the early beliefs of magnetism were also largely
entangled with superstitions such as that rubbing garlic on lodestone can
neutralise its magnetism, one example being that sailors even believed the
smell of garlic would even interfere with the action of compass, which is
why helmsmen were forbidden to eat it near a ship’s compass. Gilbert also
found that metals can be magnetised by rubbing materials such as fur,
plastic or the like on them. He named the ends of a magnet “north pole” and
“south pole”. The magnetic poles can attract or repel, depending on
polarity. In addition, however, ordinary iron is always attracted to a
magnet. Though he started to study the relationship between magnetism
and electricity, sadly he didn’t complete it. His research of static electricity
using amber and jet only demonstrated that objects with electrical charges
can work like magnets attracting small pieces of paper and stuff. It is a
French guy named du Fay that discovered that there are actually two
electrical charges, positive and negative.
He also questioned the traditional astronomical beliefs. Though a
Copernican, he didn’t express in his quintessential beliefs whether the
earth is at the centre of the universe or in orbit around the sun. However,
he believed that stars are not equidistant from the earth but have their own
earth-like planets orbiting around them. The earth itself is like a giant
magnet, which is also why compasses always point north. They spin on an
axis that is aligned with the earth’s polarity. He even likened the polarity
of the magnet to the polarity of the earth and built an entire magnetic
philosophy on this analogy. In his explanation, magnetism is the soul of the
earth. Thus a perfectly spherical lodestone, when aligned with the earth’s
poles, would wobble all by itself in 24 hours. Further, he also believed that
the sun and other stars wobble just like the earth does around a crystal
core, and speculated that the moon might also be a magnet caused to orbit
by its magnetic attraction to the earth. This was perhaps the first proposal
that a force might cause a heavenly orbit.
His research method was revolutionary in that he used experiments rather
than pure logic and reasoning like the ancient Greek philosophers did. It
was a new attitude towards scientific investigation. Until then, scientific
experiments were not in fashion. It was because of this scientific attitude,
together with his contribution to our knowledge of magnetism, that a unit
of magneto motive force, also known as magnetic potential, was named
Gilbert in his honour. His approach of careful observation and
experimentation rather than the authoritative opinion or deductive
philosophy of others had laid the very foundation for modern science.
Pioneer(n): ngườ i tiên phong
eminent (adj): nổ i bậ t, nổ i tiếng
accredited(adj): - đá ng tin
- đượ c cô ng nhậ n
magnetism(n) điện từ họ c
prior to sth : trướ c sth
possess: sở hữ u
amber(n) hổ phá ch
specific gravity: khố i lượ ng riêng
pre-date(v): sớ m hơn
culminate(v) in : dẫ n đến kết quả
knight(v): phong hiệp sĩ (kiểu cầ m kiếm để trên vai á )
portion(n): phầ n
mysticism(n): tư tưở ng cho rằ ng sự thậ t có thể đượ c tìm thấ y hoặ c giao
tiếp vớ i chú a thô ng quá cầ u nguyện
alchemy(n) thuậ t giả kim
transmutation(n) sự chuyển đổ i
seafaring(adj): liên quan đến di chuyển bằ ng đườ ng biển
odyssey(n) chuyến hà nh trình dài và thú vị nhưng trong bà i đọ c nó là cuố n
odyssey
pull(n) sứ c hú t
yank(v) hú t mạ nh
fitting(n) thiết bị, vậ t dụ ng cố định
coin(v) tạ o ra, đặ t ra
entangle(v) vướ ng vú i và o dính dá ng và o
neutralise(v) trung hò a
helmsmen(n) ngườ i lá i tà u
repel(v) đẩy ( dịch thấ y cá i nghĩa nà y hay nè: khướ c từ )
static(adj) tĩnh, khô ng thay đổ i, khô ng di chuyển
astronomical(adj) thiên vă n họ c
quintessential(adj) điển hình
equidistant(adj) xa ngang nhau
axis(n) trụ c
liken sth to sth: vạ ch ra để thấ y sự giố ng nhau
analogy(n) sự tương tự
spherical(adj) hình cầ u
wobble(v) lắ c lư từ nơi nà y sang nơi khá c trong đâ y chắ c ý nó nó i là tự
quay
magneto (n) thiết bị tạ o điền bằ ng từ trườ ng
deductive(adj) suy luậ n trong vă n là diễn dịch nha
authoritative(adj) có thẩ m quyền, đá ng tin