It’s not easy to imagine that electricity was always there, but beyond our reach. Nowadays we use this energy every day. It boils our kettles, charges our phones and lights our homes. Yet, most of us struggle to explain what electric energy actually is.
How To Imagine This Energy That Was Always There
Most of us struggle to explain what electric power actually is, because we cannot see it. In fact, we are seldom even aware of it as it produces light, heat, and movement.
Let’s Picture Electricity Flowing Though Pipes Not Wires
Let’s imagine this energy as water flowing through a pipe. Except, this time, there are sub-atomic-sized particles that scientists call electrons, moving through a metal wire. These ions carry the energy that produces our light and warmth.
Ancients Saw Evidence Beyond Their Understanding
Electricity was always there but beyond people’s comprehension. They saw it in-action without understanding it.
Around 2,500 years ago, the “father of philosophy”, Thales of Miletus, rubbed amber with wool and attracted feathers and dust. Although he had no idea he was generating static electricity. Or that this was an accumulation of electric charge on the surface of the fossilized tree resin.
Meanwhile, they had learned to distinguish genuine amber, and hawks-bill turtle shells, in ancient China from fakes by, rubbing them with their palms to see if this attracted strands of straw.
Energy Breakthrough Came In The Eighteenth Century
The breakthrough came in the eighteenth century. Benjamin Franklin showed that lightning and static electricity were closely related, when he flew a kite in a lightening storm. Scientists could finally begin studying this mysterious phenomenon, instead of simply wondering about it.
Studying Electric Power Instead Of Merely Observing it
Previously, electricity was always there, but beyond our capacity to study it objectively. Today we know that some electrons move freely through certain metals such as copper. Nature also uses this power. Tiny electrical signals control our heartbeats, carry messages through our nerves, and allow our muscles to move.
And so, you see, this force is not actually a modern invention. It has always been part of our natural world. But now we have learned how to produce it, control it, store it, and use it. Let’s discover how nature created the world’s first batteries in the next article in our series.
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