henry elles was the first person to suggest a close connection between electricity and magnetism.
henry elles was the first person to suggest a close connection between electricity and magnetism.
who was the first person to suggest a close connection between electricity and magnetism?
henry elles
henry elles was one of the first people to suggest links between electricity and magnetism. in 1757 he claimed that he had written to the royal society in 1755 about the links between electricity and magnetism, asserting that "there are some things in the power of magnetism very similar to those of electricity" but he did "not by any means think them the same". in 1760 he similarly claimed that in 1750 he had been the first "to think how the electric fire may be the cause of thunder". among the more important of the electrical research and experiments during this period were those of franz aepinus, a noted german scholar (1724–1802) and henry cavendish of london, england.
history of electromagnetic theory
as a consequence of einstein's theory of special relativity, electricity and magnetism are fundamentally interlinked. both magnetism lacking electricity, and electricity without magnetism, are inconsistent with special relativity, due to such effects as length contraction, time dilation, and the fact that the magnetic force is velocity-dependent. however, when both electricity and magnetism are taken into account, the resulting theory (electromagnetism) is fully consistent with special relativity. in particular, a phenomenon that appears purely electric or purely magnetic to one observer may be a mix of both to another, or more generally the relative contributions of electricity and magnetism are dependent on the frame of reference. thus, special relativity "mixes" electricity and magnetism into a single, inseparable phenomenon called electromagnetism, analogous to how relativity "mixes" space and time into spacetime.
magnetism