On my previous post I discussed at length the wonders of electricity and that got me into a heated argument with a friend of mine if 'Electricity was either Invented or Discovered?'
You can read about the wonders of electricity here.
My argument is that electricity was never invented only discovered.
Electricity had been existing right from the onset, since forever. It has been existing in its natural form, in the form of Lightning.
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The lightning that comes before thunder is a form of electricity.
Persons who lived in ancient world had knowledge of electricity. They rubbed amber with fur and it caused a sort of attractive energy which is later known to be static electricity.
Since electricity is a natural force that has been in existence, it only had to be discovered and understood not invented.
Benjamin Franklin was one of the greatest scientists of his time. He made many discoveries in various areas of science that was of interest to him. He invented so many things. An example is the bifocal glasses. In the 17th century, Benjamin Franklin had developed interest in electricity. Before that time it was only static electricity that had been experimented with. Benjamin Franklin had to step things up. He developed the idea that electricity had positive and negative polarities and that electricity flowed between these elements. He believed that lightning was a form of this flowing electricity.
In the mid-1700s thereabout, Franklin performed his famous kite experiment. In order to prove that lightning was electricity, he flew a kite during a thunderstorm. He tied a metal key to the kite string that would conduct the electricity.
Just as he had hoped for, electricity from the thunderstorm transfered to the kite and electricity flowed down the string and gave him a shock. Luckily for him, he didn't get hurt. But who would mind?, as far as the idea was proven.
Other scientists later studied electricity. They continued from where Franklin had stopped and began to understand more about how electricity works. For example, in the late-1800s, Thomas Edison (one of my favourite investors) invented the electric bulb and since then our world has been brighter.
But Benjamin Franklin probably wasn't the first person to discover electricity. At the beginning of 17th century, English Scientists William Gilbert established the science study of electricity and magnetism. Another English scientist Sir Thomas Browne was inspired by Gilbert and made further investigations and wrote books about his findings. Gilbert and Browne are well known for been the first scientist to use the term 'Electricity'.
Therefore, from the above history of electricity, one cannot judge who actually discovered electricity. But from the above context it is evident that the contribution of the entire scientists had led to the invention of electricity.
