Having made a ball from magnetic iron ore, William Gilbert. William Gilbert and the beginning of experimental studies of electricity and magnetism. English physicist, court physician to Elizabeth I and James I

(1603-11-30 ) (59 years old)

Biography

Gilbert's family was very famous in the area: his father was an official, and the family itself had a fairly long pedigree. After graduating from a local school, William was sent to Cambridge in 1558. Very little is known about his life prior to his scientific career. There is a version that he also studied at Oxford, although there is no documentary evidence for this. In 1560 he received a bachelor's degree, and in 1564 a master's degree in philosophy. In 1569 he becomes a doctor of medicine.

After completing his studies, Gilbert embarks on a journey through Europe, which lasted several years, after which he settled in London. There, in 1573, he became a member of the Royal medical college.

Scientific activity

In 1600 he published the book " De magnete, magneticisque corparibus, etc. ”, which describes his experiments on magnets and electrical properties bodies, divided bodies into electrified by friction and non-electrified, thereby noticing the effect of air humidity on the electrical attraction of light bodies.

Hilbert created the first theory of magnetic phenomena. He found that any magnets have two poles, while opposite poles attract and like poles repel. Conducting an experiment with an iron ball that interacted with a magnetic needle, he first suggested that the Earth is a giant magnet. He also proposed the idea that the Earth's magnetic poles might coincide with geographic poles planets.

Hilbert also explored electrical phenomena, pioneering the use of the term. He noticed that many bodies, like amber, after rubbing, can attract small objects, and in honor of this substance he called such phenomena electrical (from lat. electricus- "amber").

Memory

In 1964, the International Astronomical Union named a crater on the visible side of the Moon after Hilbert. Gilbert (symbol: Gb, Gi) is a unit of measurement of the magnetomotive force in the CGS system. Named after William Gilbert.

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Notes

Literature

  • Gilbert W. About the magnet, magnetic bodies and the big magnet - the Earth. M., 1956
  • Edgar Zilsel, "The Origin of William Gilbert's Scientific Method", Journal of the History of Ideas 2:1-32, 1941
  • Bochenski, Leslie"A Short History of Lunar Cartography" (April 1996) University of Illinois Astronomical Society

Links

  • Gilbert William // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M. : Soviet encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
  • // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
  • Khramov Yu. A. Gilbert William // Physicists: A Biographical Guide / Ed. A. I. Akhiezer. - Ed. 2nd, rev. and additional - M .: Nauka, 1983. - S. 84. - 400 p. - 200,000 copies.(in trans.)

An excerpt characterizing Gilbert, William

– Why do you know?
- I know. This is not good, my friend.
“And if I want ...” said Natasha.
“Stop talking nonsense,” said the Countess.
- And if I want ...
Natasha, I'm serious...
Natasha didn’t let her finish, pulled the countess’s big hand to her and kissed her from above, then on the palm, then turned again and began to kiss her on the bone of the upper joint of the finger, then in the gap, then again on the bone, saying in a whisper: “January, February , March April May".
- Speak, mother, why are you silent? Speak, - she said, looking back at her mother, who looked at her daughter with a tender look and because of this contemplation, it seemed that she forgot everything she wanted to say.
“That won’t do, my soul. Not everyone will understand your childhood connection, and seeing him so close to you can harm you in the eyes of other young people who travel to us, and, most importantly, torment him in vain. He may have found himself a party of his own, rich; and now he's going crazy.
- Coming down? Natasha repeated.
- I'll tell you about myself. I had one cousin...
- I know - Kirilla Matveich, but he is an old man?
“There was not always an old man. But here's the thing, Natasha, I'll talk to Borey. He doesn't have to travel so often...
“Why not, if he wants to?”
“Because I know it won’t end.”
- Why do you know? No, mom, you don't tell him. What nonsense! - Natasha said in the tone of a person from whom they want to take away his property.
- Well, I won’t get married, so let him go, if he’s having fun and I’m having fun. Natasha looked at her mother smiling.
“Not married, but like this,” she repeated.
- How is it, my friend?
- Yes, it is. Well, it’s very necessary that I won’t get married, but ... so.
“So, so,” repeated the countess, and, shaking with her whole body, she laughed a kind, unexpected old woman’s laugh.
- Stop laughing, stop it, - Natasha shouted, - you are shaking the whole bed. You look terribly like me, the same laughter ... Wait a minute ... - She grabbed both hands of the countess, kissed the bone of the little finger on one - June, and continued to kiss July, August on the other hand. - Mom, is he very in love? How about your eyes? Were you so in love? And very nice, very, very nice! Only not quite to my taste - it is narrow, like a dining room clock ... Don't you understand? ... Narrow, you know, gray, light ...
– What are you lying about! said the Countess.
Natasha continued:
- Do you really not understand? Nikolenka would understand... Earless - that blue, dark blue with red, and it is quadrangular.
“You flirt with him, too,” said the countess, laughing.
“No, he is a Freemason, I found out. He is nice, dark blue with red, how do you explain ...
“Countess,” came the voice of the count from behind the door. - Are you awake? - Natasha jumped up barefoot, grabbed her shoes in her hands and ran into her room.
She couldn't sleep for a long time. She kept thinking about the fact that no one can understand everything that she understands and what is in her.
"Sonya?" she thought, looking at the sleeping, curled-up kitty with her huge braid. “No, where is she! She is virtuous. She fell in love with Nikolenka and doesn't want to know anything else. Mom doesn't understand. It's amazing how smart I am and how ... she's sweet," she continued, speaking to herself in the third person and imagining that some very smart, smartest and best man was talking about her ... "Everything, everything is in her , - continued this man, - she is unusually smart, sweet and then good, unusually good, dexterous - she swims, she rides excellently, and her voice! You can say, an amazing voice! She sang her favorite musical phrase from the Kherubinievskaya opera, threw herself on the bed, laughed at the joyful thought that she was about to fall asleep, shouted to Dunyasha to put out the candle, and before Dunyasha had time to leave the room, she had already passed into another, even happier world of dreams. , where everything was just as easy and beautiful as in reality, but it was only better because it was different.

Gilbert William (physicist) Gilbert William (physicist)

Gilbert (Gilbert) William (1544-1603), English physicist and a doctor. In his work "On the Magnet, Magnetic Bodies, and the Great Magnet - the Earth" (1600), he was the first to consistently consider magnetic and many electrical phenomena.
* * *
Gilbert (Gilbert, Gylberde) William, English physician and naturalist, founder of the doctrine of electricity and magnetism.
William Gilbert was born the son of a Chief Justice and City Councilman of Colchester, Essex. In this city, he graduated from a classical school and in May 1558 entered St. John's College, Cambridge. Later, his studies continued at Oxford. In 1560 he received a bachelor's degree, and after 4 years he became a "master of arts." By that time, his choice had already been determined: he seriously took up the study of medicine, in 1569 received a doctorate in medicine, was elected a senior member of the learned society of St. John's College in Cambridge.
Hilbert's biographers write that at about the same time "... traveled across the Continent, where he was probably awarded the degree of Doctor of Physics, since he does not seem to have received it either at Oxford or Cambridge."
In the 1560s, Gilbert, both on the Continent and in England, "practiced as a physician with great success and approval." In 1573 he was elected a member of the Royal College of Physicians, where he was subsequently entrusted with many important posts - inspector, treasurer, adviser and (since 1600) president of the college. Gilbert's success as a healer was so significant that Queen Elizabeth Tudor (cm. ELIZABETH I Tudor) made him her life doctor. The Queen was also keenly interested in his scientific studies and even visited his laboratory, where Hilbert demonstrated some experiments to her.
In the house and in the laboratory of Hilbert, who, according to the recollections of people who knew him, was a cheerful, sociable and hospitable person, his numerous colleagues and friends often gathered. Among them were sailors who told him about the observations on the compass during their round-the-world voyages. This allowed Hilbert to collect a wealth of material on the declinations of the magnetic needle, which was included in his famous book.
At first, Hilbert's scientific interests were in chemistry (probably in connection with his medical practice), and then in astronomy. He studied almost all available literature on the motion of the planets, and was the most active supporter and propagandist of the ideas of Copernicus in England. (cm. Copernicus Nicholas) and J. Bruno (cm. BRUNO Giordano).
After the death of Elizabeth Tudor in 1603, Gilbert was left as a physician under the new king James I. (cm. JAKOV I Stuart (1566-1625)), but did not stay in this position for a year. In 1603 William Gilbert died of the plague and was buried at Holy Trinity Church in Colchester.
Gilbert, who had no heirs, bequeathed his entire library, all the instruments and collection of minerals to the college, but, unfortunately, all this perished in 1666 during the great fire of London.
Of course, Hilbert's main contribution to science is associated with his work on magnetism and electricity. Moreover, the very emergence of these most important branches of physics in modern times should rightly be associated with Hilbert.
Gilbert - and this is his special merit - was the first, even before Francis Bacon (cm. BACON Francis (philosopher), who is often called the progenitor of the experimental method in science, purposefully and consciously came from experience in the study of magnetic and electrical phenomena.
The main result of his research was the work "On the magnet, magnetic bodies and the large magnet - the Earth." This book describes more than 600 experiments done by Hilbert and sets out the conclusions to which they lead.
Gilbert established that a magnet always has two inseparable poles: if the magnet is cut into two parts, then each of the halves again has a pair of poles. The poles that Hilbert called of the same name repel each other, while the other poles, which are of opposite names, attract.
Gilbert discovered the phenomenon of magnetic induction: a bar of iron located near a magnet acquires magnetic properties itself. As far as natural magnets are concerned, the attraction of iron objects to them can be increased by using the proper iron fittings. From the action of a magnet, one can partially block oneself with iron partitions, but immersion in water does not noticeably affect the attraction to them. Hilbert even remarked that hitting the magnets might weaken their effect.
Gilbert not only experimented with magnets, he set himself a task, for the solution of which, as it turned out, even half a millennium was not enough: why does Earth's magnetism exist at all?
The answer he offered was again based on experiments. A permanent magnet was made, called Gilbert Terella (i.e., a small model of the Earth), which had the shape of a ball, and Gilbert, using a magnetic needle placed over various parts of its surface, studied the magnetic field created by it. It turned out to be very similar to what is above the Earth. At the equator, that is, at equal distances from the poles, the arrows of the magnet were located horizontally, that is, parallel to the surface of the ball, and the closer to the poles, the more the arrows tilted, taking a vertical position above the poles.
Hilbert's idea that the Earth is a large permanent magnet has not stood the test of time. Much later, in the 19th century, it was found that at high temperatures (and they are very high in the bowels of the Earth), a permanent magnet demagnetizes. The problem of the magnetism of the Earth, other planets, as well as others celestial bodies- one of oldest problems classical natural science - with a new sharpness stood before the naturalists. But the significance and role of Hilbert's works remain enduring.
Magnets, if only because of the applied purposes of navigation, were already somewhat interested even before Gilbert, but in the study of electricity, he was certainly and unconditionally the first. And here he has important achievements. Even the first device is a prototype of the electroscope (cm. ELECTROSCOPE)(he called it "versor") - was invented by him. Gilbert found that electrification (also his term) occurs when rubbing not only amber (this was noticed by the ancient Greeks), but also many bodies of a different composition, including glass. (It can be noted that until the middle of the 18th century electrization by friction remained the main, if not the only, tool for the study of electrical phenomena.)
Hilbert even managed to experimentally detect such subtle effects as the effect of a flame on charged bodies. He even, far ahead of his time, connected heating with the thermal motion of the particles of bodies.
A proper assessment of Hilbert's visionary ideas, both in the field of physics and the methodology of science, appeared only now, three hundred, even four hundred years after the publication of his brilliant works.


encyclopedic Dictionary. 2009 .

See what "GILBERT William (physicist)" is in other dictionaries:

    Wikipedia has articles on other people with this last name, see Gilbert. Gilbert William Gilbert ... Wikipedia

    Gilbert, Gilbert (Gilbert) William (May 24, 1544, Colchester, ≈ November 30, 1603, London or Colchester), English physicist, court physician. G. belongs to the first theory of magnetic phenomena. He first suggested that the Earth is a large ... ...

    - (Gilbert, William) (1544 1603), English physicist and physician, author of the first theories of electricity and magnetism. Born May 24, 1544 in Colchester, Essex. He studied medicine at Cambridge, practiced medicine in London, where he became ... ... Collier Encyclopedia

    Gilbert (1544-1603), English physicist and physician. In the work “On the Magnet, Magnetic Bodies, and the Great Magnet of the Earth” (1600), he was the first to consistently consider magnetic and many electrical phenomena ... encyclopedic Dictionary

    Or Gilbert (French Gilbert or English Gilbert, German Hilbert) surname and male name, common in France, Great Britain, Germany, USA. As a French name, it is more commonly pronounced as Gilbert or Gibert. Contents 1 ... ... Wikipedia

    - (Eng. William Gilbert, May 24, 1544, Colchester (Essex) November 30, 1603, London) English physicist, court physician to Elizabeth I and James I. He studied magnetic and electrical phenomena, was the first to introduce the term "electric". Gilbert ... ... Wikipedia

    Gilbert (Gilbert) William (1544-1603) English physicist and physician. In the work On the Magnet, Magnetic Bodies and the Great Magnet of the Earth (1600), he was the first to consistently consider magnetic and many electrical phenomena ...

    I Hilbert Hilbert David (January 23, 1862, Wehlau, near Königsberg, February 14, 1943, Göttingen), German mathematician. He graduated from the University of Königsberg, in 1893 95 professor there, in 1895 1930 professor at the University of Göttingen, until 1933 ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

    - (15441603), English physicist and physician. In the work "On the magnet, magnetic bodies and the great magnet Earth" (1600) for the first time he consistently considered magnetic and many electrical phenomena ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

    Gilbert W.- GILBERT, Gilbert (Gilbert) William (15441603), Eng. physicist and doctor. In tr. About a magnet, magnetic bodies and about a big magnet Earth (1600) for the first time consistently considered magn. and many electric phenomena... Biographical Dictionary


(Gilbert, William)
(1544-1603), English physicist and physician, author of the first theories of electricity and magnetism. Born May 24, 1544 in Colchester, Essex. He studied medicine at Cambridge, practiced medicine in London, where he became president of the Royal College of Medicine, was the court physician of Elizabeth I and James I. In 1600 he published an essay On the magnet, magnetic bodies and the large magnet - the Earth (De magnete, magneticisque corporibus, et magno magnete tellure), in which he described the results of his 18 years of research on magnetic and electrical phenomena and put forward the first theories of electricity and magnetism. Gilbert, in particular, established that any magnet has two poles, while like poles repel, and opposite ones attract; discovered that iron objects under the influence of a magnet acquire magnetic properties (induction); showed an increase in the strength of the magnet with careful surface treatment. Studying the magnetic properties of a magnetized iron ball, he showed that it acts on the compass needle in the same way as the Earth, and came to the conclusion that the latter is a giant magnet. He suggested that the magnetic poles of the Earth coincide with the geographic ones. Thanks to Hilbert, the science of electricity was enriched with new discoveries, accurate observations, and instruments. With the help of his "versor" (the first electroscope), Gilbert showed that not only rubbed amber, but also diamond, sapphire, crystal, glass and other substances, which he called "electric" (from the Greek "amber" - electron), for the first time introducing this term into science. Gilbert discovered the phenomenon of leakage of electricity in a humid atmosphere, its destruction in a flame, the screening effect on the electric charges of paper, fabric or metals, the insulating properties of some materials. Gilbert was the first in England to support the heliocentric doctrine of Copernicus and the conclusion of Giordano Bruno that the Sun is only one of the countless stars in the Universe. Gilbert died in London (or Colchester) on November 30, 1603.
LITERATURE
Gilbert W. About the magnet, magnetic bodies and a large magnet - the Earth. M., 1956

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William Gilbert was born in 1544 in the family of the chief justice and member of the city council of the city of Colchester in Essex (England). In 1558, William entered Cambridge and then continued his studies at Oxford. In training, he made great strides: already in 1569, at the age of twenty-five, he became a doctor of medicine and was even elected a senior member of the college's learned society.

Gilbert as a doctor enjoys great success. He is elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and subsequently becomes its President. Gilbert's fame is so great that it reaches the royal court: Queen Elizabeth makes him her life physician.

But Gilbert's interests are not limited to medicine: he is seriously interested in natural science. And even the queen is interested in this: she visits his laboratory, where the scientist demonstrates to her the experiments that have become famous.

In the house and in the laboratory of Gilbert, who, according to the recollections of people who knew him, was a cheerful, sociable and hospitable person, his numerous colleagues and friends often gathered. Among them were sailors who told him about the observations on the compass during their round-the-world voyages. This allowed Gilbert to collect rich material on the declinations of the magnetic needle, which was subsequently included in his famous book On the Magnet, Magnetic Bodies, and the Great Magnet, the Earth.

Gilbert was the most active supporter and propagandist of the ideas of Copernicus and Bruno in England.

Gilbert's main contribution to science is associated with his work on magnetism and electricity. Moreover, the very emergence of these most important branches of physics in modern times should rightly be associated with Gilbert.

The main result of his research was the already mentioned work "On the Magnet, Magnetic Bodies and on the Great Magnet - the Earth". This book describes more than 600 experiments done by Gilbert and outlines the conclusions they lead to.

Gilbert established that a magnet always has two inseparable poles: if the magnet is cut into two parts, then each of the halves again has a pair of poles. The poles, which Gilbert first called the poles of the same name, repel, while the others - opposite - attract.

Gilbert also discovered the phenomenon of magnetization: he discovered that a bar of iron, located near a magnet, itself acquires the properties of a magnet over time.

Gilbert not only experimented with magnets, he set himself a problem that has remained unresolved to this day: why does Earth's magnetism exist at all?

The answer he offered was again based on experiments. A permanent magnet was made, called Gilbert Terella (i.e., "earth"), which had the shape of a ball, and Gilbert, using a magnetic needle placed over various parts of its surface, studied the magnetic field created by it. It turned out to be very similar to what is above the Earth. At the equator, that is, at equal distances from the poles, the arrows of the magnet were located horizontally, that is, parallel to the surface of the ball, and the closer to the poles, the more the arrows tilted, taking a vertical position above the poles.

Magnets, if only for the applied purposes of navigation, were already somewhat interested even before Gilbert, but in the study of electricity he was the first. And here he has important achievements. Even the first device - the prototype of the electroscope - was invented by him. Gilbert established that electrification (also a term he proposed) occurs when rubbing not only amber (this was noticed by the ancient Greeks), but also many bodies of a different composition, including glass. Electrification by friction until the middle of the 18th century remained the main method of separating electric charges.

Gilbert even managed to experimentally detect such subtle effects as the effect of a flame on charged bodies. Significantly ahead of his time, the scientist associated heating with the thermal motion of the particles of bodies.

Stories about scientists in physics. 2014

English physicist, court physician to Elizabeth I and James I

Biography

Gilbert's family was very famous in the area: his father was an official, and the family itself had a fairly long pedigree. After graduating from a local school, William was sent to Cambridge in 1558. Very little is known about his life prior to his scientific career. There is a version that he also studied at Oxford, although there is no documentary evidence for this. In 1560 he received a bachelor's degree, and in 1564 a master's degree in philosophy. In 1569 he becomes a doctor of medicine.

After completing his studies, Gilbert embarks on a journey through Europe that lasted several years, after which he settled in London. There, in 1573, he became a member of the Royal College of Medicine.

Scientific activity

In 1600, he published the book De magnete, magneticisque corparibus etc, which describes his experiments on magnets and the electrical properties of bodies, divided bodies into electrified by friction and non-electrified, thereby noticing the effect of air humidity on the electrical attraction of light bodies.

Hilbert created the first theory of magnetic phenomena. He found that any magnets have two poles, while opposite poles attract and like poles repel. Conducting an experiment with an iron ball that interacted with a magnetic needle, he first suggested that the Earth is a giant magnet. He also proposed the idea that the Earth's magnetic poles might coincide with the geographic poles of the planet.

Hilbert also explored electrical phenomena, pioneering the use of the term. He noticed that many bodies, like amber, after rubbing, can attract small objects, and in honor of this substance he called such phenomena electrical (from Latin ?lectricus - “amber”).

  • Sergey Savenkov

    some kind of “scanty” review ... as if in a hurry somewhere