The phenomena of electricity, such as powerful discharges or long sparks, were not part of everyday experience in the early modern period and were first generated in experimental practice. From the outset, therefore, electrical science was wholly dependent on instruments. Before 1700, electricity was generated by rubbing together many different kinds of solid body. This, however, did not at first provide “stable” experimental conditions.

The first to create those conditions, in London in the early 18th century, was the English scientist Francis Hauksbee, w…