Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Electricity
(3,135 words)

1. Electricity before 1700

Of all the subjects of natural study, electricity has enjoyed a particularly striking career. Unlike chemistry (Chemical sciences), mechanics, astronomy, optics, and metallurgy, it has no long-standing tradition, and even in the 17th century, effects known as “electrical” were barely known. Yet by 1850, electricity was in the process…

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Steinle, Friedrich, “Electricity”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_018676>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20170626



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