From Franklin to Faraday
Taming lightning and discovering the electromagnetic force
10.1 Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) demonstrated the electrical nature of lightning with his kite experiment (1752), invented the lightning rod, and established the convention of positive and negative charge.
10.2 Coulomb, Volta & Ampère
Charles-Augustin de Coulomb measured the electric force law. Alessandro Volta invented the voltaic pile (1800), the first battery. André-Marie Ampère founded electrodynamics and showed that electric currents produce magnetic forces.
10.3 Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday (1791–1867), a self-taught bookbinder's apprentice, discovered electromagnetic induction (1831) — that a changing magnetic field produces an electric current. He introduced the concept of the electromagnetic field, transforming physics forever.