Editing Scientific Revolution (section)

==New ideas==
As the Scientific Revolution was not marked by any single change, the following new ideas contributed to what is called the Scientific Revolution. Many of them were revolutions in their own fields.

=== Astronomy ===

==== Heliocentrism ====
For almost five millennia, the [[geocentric model]] of the Earth as the center of the universe had been accepted by all but a few astronomers. In Aristotle's cosmology, Earth's central location was perhaps less significant than its identification as a realm of imperfection, inconstancy, irregularity, and change, as opposed to the "heavens" (Moon, Sun, planets, stars), which were regarded as perfect, permanent, unchangeable, and in religious thought, the realm of heavenly beings. The Earth was even composed of different material, the four elements "earth", "water", "fire", and "air", while sufficiently far above its surface (roughly the Moon's orbit), the heavens were composed of a different substance called "aether".<ref>{{citation |last1=Lewis |first1=C.S. |title=The Discarded Image |publisher=Canto Classics |isbn=978-1-107-60470-4 |year=2012 |pages=3, 4 }}</ref> The heliocentric model that replaced it involved the radical displacement of the Earth to an orbit around the Sun; sharing a placement with the other planets implied a universe of heavenly components made from the same changeable substances as the Earth. Heavenly motions no longer needed to be governed by a theoretical perfection, confined to circular orbits.

[[File:JKepler.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait of [[Johannes Kepler]], one of the founders and fathers of modern [[astronomy]], the [[scientific method]], [[Natural science|natural]] and [[modern science]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dpma.de/english/our_office/publications/milestones/greatinventors/johanneskepler/index.html | title=DPMA &#124; Johannes Kepler }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/kepler/education/johannes |title=Johannes Kepler: His Life, His Laws and Times &#124; NASA |access-date=1 September 2023 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624003856/https://www.nasa.gov/kepler/education/johannes/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/timeline/people/kepler.html | title=Molecular Expressions: Science, Optics and You - Timeline - Johannes Kepler }}</ref>]]

Copernicus' 1543 work on the heliocentric model of the [[Solar System]] tried to demonstrate that the Sun was the center of the universe. Few were bothered by this suggestion, and the pope and several archbishops were interested enough by it to want more detail.<ref>[[#Hannam|Hannam]], p. 303</ref> His model was later used to create [[Gregorian calendar|the calendar]] of [[Pope Gregory XIII]].<ref>[[#Hannam|Hannam]], p. 329</ref> However, the idea that the Earth moved around the Sun was doubted by most of Copernicus' contemporaries. It contradicted not only empirical observation, due to the absence of an observable [[stellar parallax]],<ref>[[#Hannam|Hannam]], p. 283</ref> but more significantly at the time, the authority of Aristotle. The discoveries of Kepler and Galileo gave the theory credibility. 

Kepler was an astronomer who is best known for his [[Kepler's laws of planetary motion|laws of planetary motion]], and Kepler´s books ''[[Astronomia nova]]'', ''[[Harmonice Mundi]]'', and ''[[Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae]]'' influenced among others [[Isaac Newton]], providing one of the foundations for his theory of [[Newton's law of universal gravitation|universal gravitation]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Voelkel|first=James R.|date=2001|title=Commentary on Ernan McMullin, "The Impact of Newton's Principia on the Philosophy of Science"|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3080920|journal=Philosophy of Science|volume=68|issue=3|pages=319–326|doi=10.1086/392885|jstor=3080920|s2cid=144781947|issn=0031-8248}}</ref> One of the most significant books in the history of astronomy, the Astronomia nova provided strong arguments for heliocentrism and contributed valuable insight into the movement of the planets. This included the first mention of the planets' elliptical paths and the change of their movement to the movement of free floating bodies as opposed to objects on rotating spheres. It is recognized as one of the most important works of the Scientific Revolution.<ref>{{Cite book | last=Voelkel | first=James R. | author-link=James R. Voelkel | title=The composition of Kepler's Astronomia nova | date=2001 | publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] | location=Princeton  | isbn=0-691-00738-1 | pages=1}}</ref> Using the accurate observations of [[Tycho Brahe]], Kepler proposed that the planets move around the Sun not in circular orbits but in elliptical ones. Together with Kepler´s other laws of planetary motion, this allowed him to create a model of the Solar System that was an improvement over Copernicus' original system. 

Galileo's main contributions to the acceptance of the heliocentric system were his mechanics, the observations he made with his telescope, as well as his detailed presentation of the case for the system. Using an early theory of [[inertia]], Galileo could explain why rocks dropped from a tower fall straight down even if the Earth rotates. His observations of the [[moons of Jupiter]], the phases of [[Venus]], the spots on the Sun, and [[List of mountains on the Moon|mountains on the Moon]] all helped to discredit the Aristotelian philosophy and the Ptolemaic theory of the Solar System. Through their combined discoveries, the heliocentric system gained support, and at the end of the 17th century it was generally accepted by astronomers.

This work culminated in the work of Newton, and his ''Principia'' formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation which dominated scientists' view of the physical universe for the next three centuries. By deriving Kepler's laws of planetary motion from his mathematical description of gravity, and then using the same principles to account for the trajectories of [[comet]]s, the [[tide]]s, the precession of the [[equinox]]es, and other phenomena, Newton removed the last doubts about the validity of the heliocentric model of the cosmos. This work also demonstrated that the motion of objects on Earth and of celestial bodies could be described by the same principles. His prediction that the Earth should be shaped as an oblate spheroid was later vindicated by other scientists. His laws of motion were to be the solid foundation of mechanics; his [[Newton's law of universal gravitation|law of universal gravitation]] combined terrestrial and celestial mechanics into one great system that seemed to be able to describe the whole world in mathematical formulae.

==== Gravitation ====
[[File:NewtonsPrincipia.jpg|thumb|[[Isaac Newton]]'s ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica|Principia]]'' developed the first set of unified scientific laws.]]

Newton also developed the theory of gravitation. In 1679, Newton began to consider gravitation and its effect on the orbits of planets with reference to Kepler's laws of planetary motion. This followed stimulation by a brief exchange of letters in 1679–80 with Hooke, opened a correspondence intended to elicit contributions from Newton to Royal Society transactions.<ref>''Correspondence of Isaac Newton, vol. 2, 1676–1687'' ed. H.W. Turnbull, Cambridge University Press 1960; at page 297, document No. 235, letter from Hooke to Newton dated 24 November 1679.</ref> Newton's reawakening interest in astronomical matters received further stimulus by the appearance of a comet in the winter of 1680–81, on which he corresponded with [[John Flamsteed]].<ref>[[#Westfall|Westfall]], pp. 391–92</ref> After the exchanges with Hooke, Newton worked out proof that the elliptical form of planetary orbits would result from a [[centripetal force]] [[inverse-square law|inversely proportional to the square of the radius vector]]. Newton communicated his results to [[Edmond Halley]] and to the Royal Society in ''[[De motu corporum in gyrum]]'' in 1684.<ref>Whiteside D.T. (ed.) (1974) ''Mathematical Papers of Isaac Newton'', vol. 6, 1684–1691, Cambridge University Press. p. 30.</ref> This tract contained the nucleus that Newton developed and expanded to form the ''Principia''.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/newton_isaac.shtml Isaac Newton (1643–1727)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150310093436/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/newton_isaac.shtml |date=10 March 2015 }}, BBC – History</ref>

The ''Principia'' was published on 5 July 1687 with encouragement and financial help from Halley.<ref>[http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Halley.html Halley biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090213164959/http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Halley.html |date=13 February 2009 }}. Groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk. Retrieved on 26 September 2011.</ref> In this work, Newton states the [[Newton's laws of motion|three universal laws of motion]] that contributed to many advances during the [[Industrial Revolution]] which soon followed and were not to be improved upon for more than 200 years. Many of these advancements continue to be the underpinnings of non-relativistic technologies in the modern world. He used the Latin word ''gravitas'' (weight) for the effect that would become known as [[gravity]] and defined the law of universal gravitation.

Newton's postulate of an invisible [[action at a distance|force able to act over vast distances]] led to him being criticised for introducing "[[occult]] agencies" into science.<ref>Edelglass et al., ''Matter and Mind'', {{ISBN|0-940262-45-2}}. p. 54</ref> Later, in the second edition of the ''Principia'' (1713), Newton firmly rejected such criticisms in a concluding "[[General Scholium]]," writing that it was enough that the phenomena implied a gravitational attraction, as they did; but they did not so far indicate its cause, and it was both unnecessary and improper to frame hypotheses of things that were not implied by the phenomena. (Here Newton used what became his famous expression "''[[hypotheses non fingo]]''").<ref>On the meaning and origins of this expression, see Kirsten Walsh, [https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/emxphi/2010/10/does-newton-feign-an-hypothesis/ Does Newton feign an hypothesis?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714120054/https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/emxphi/2010/10/does-newton-feign-an-hypothesis/ |date=14 July 2014 }}, [https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/emxphi/ Early Modern Experimental Philosophy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721051523/https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/emxphi/ |date=21 July 2011 }}, 18 October 2010.</ref>

===Biology and medicine===
[[File:Vesalius Fabrica p190.jpg|right|upright=0.9|thumb|[[Andreas Vesalius|Vesalius]]'s intricately detailed drawings of human dissections in ''Fabrica'' helped to overturn the medical theories of [[Galen]].]]

The writings of Greek physician [[Galen]] had dominated European medical thinking for over a millennium. The Flemish scholar [[Andreas Vesalius]] demonstrated mistakes in Galen's ideas. Vesalius dissected human corpses, whereas Galen dissected animal corpses. Published in 1543, Vesalius' ''[[De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem|De humani corporis fabrica]]''<ref>[http://ceb.nlm.nih.gov/proj/ttp/books.htm Page through a virtual copy of Vesalius's ''De Humanis Corporis Fabrica''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011220907/http://ceb.nlm.nih.gov/proj/ttp/books.htm |date=11 October 2014 }}. Archive.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved on 26 September 2011.</ref> was a groundbreaking work of [[Human body|human anatomy]]. It emphasized the priority of dissection and what has come to be called the "anatomical" view of the body, seeing human internal functioning as an essentially corporeal structure filled with organs arranged in three-dimensional space. This was in stark contrast to many of the anatomical models used previously, which had strong Galenic/Aristotelean elements, as well as elements of [[astrology]].

Besides the first good description of the [[sphenoid bone]], Vesalius showed that the [[sternum]] consists of three portions and the [[sacrum]] of five or six; and he described accurately the [[vestibule of the ear|vestibule]] in the interior of the [[temporal bone]]. He verified the observation of anatomist [[Charles Estienne]] on the valves of the [[hepatic veins]], described the [[Azygos vein|vena azygos]], and discovered the canal which passes in the fetus between the [[umbilical vein]] and the vena cava, since named [[ductus venosus]]. He described the [[greater omentum|omentum]] and its connections with the stomach, the [[spleen]] and the [[Large intestine|colon]]; gave the first correct views of the structure of the [[pylorus]]; observed the small size of the caecal [[Appendix (anatomy)|appendix]] in man; gave the first good account of the [[mediastinum]] and [[Pulmonary pleurae|pleura]] and the fullest description of the anatomy of the brain yet advanced.

Before Vesalius, the anatomical notes by [[Alessandro Achillini]] demonstrate a detailed description of the human body and compare what he had found during his dissections to what others like Galen and [[Avicenna]] had found and notes their similarities and differences.<ref>{{cite book|first=Alessandro |last=Achillini|editor1-last=Lind|editor1-first=L. R.|chapter=Anatomical Notes by the Great Alexander Achillinus of Bologna|title=Studies in Pre-Vesalian Anatomy: Biography, Translations, Documents|date=1975|publisher=The American Philosophical Society|location=Independence Square Philadelphia|pages=42–65}}</ref> [[Niccolò Massa]] was an Italian anatomist who wrote an early anatomy text ''Anatomiae Libri Introductorius'' in 1536, described the [[cerebrospinal fluid]] and was the author of several medical works.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Niccolò Massa, His Family and His Fortune|date = 1981|last = Palmer|first = Richard|pmc=1139070|pmid=7038357|volume=25|issue = 4|journal=Med Hist|pages=385–410|doi=10.1017/s0025727300034888}}</ref> [[Jean Fernel]] was a French physician who introduced the term "[[physiology]]" to describe the study of the body's function and was the first person to describe the [[spinal canal]].

[[File:William Harvey ( 1578-1657) Venenbild.jpg|Image of [[vein]]s from [[William Harvey]]'s ''Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus''. Harvey demonstrated that blood circulated around the body, rather than being created in the liver.|left|thumb]]

Further groundbreaking work was carried out by [[William Harvey]], who published ''De Motu Cordis'' in 1628. Harvey made a detailed analysis of the overall structure of the [[heart]], going on to an analysis of the [[Artery|arteries]], showing how their pulsation depends upon the contraction of the left [[Ventricle (heart)|ventricle]], while the contraction of the right ventricle propels its charge of blood into the [[pulmonary artery]]. He noticed that the two ventricles move together almost simultaneously and not independently like had been thought previously by his predecessors.<ref>Harvey, William ''De motu cordis'', cited in Debus, Allen G. (1978) ''Man and Nature in the Renaissance''. Cambridge Univ. Pr. p. 69.</ref>

Harvey estimated the capacity of the heart, how much blood is expelled through each pump of the heart, and the number of times the heart beats in half an hour. From these estimations, he demonstrated that according to Gaelen's theory that blood was continually produced in the [[liver]], the absurdly large figure of 540 pounds of blood would have to be produced every day. Having this simple mathematical proportion at hand—which would imply a seemingly impossible role for the liver—Harvey went on to demonstrate how the blood circulated in a circle by means of countless experiments initially done on serpents and fish: tying their veins and arteries in separate periods of time, Harvey noticed the modifications which occurred; indeed, as he tied the veins, the heart would become empty, while as he did the same to the arteries, the organ would swell up. This process was later performed on the human body: the physician tied a tight [[Ligature (medicine)|ligature]] onto the upper arm of a person. This would cut off blood flow from the arteries and the veins. When this was done, the arm below the ligature was cool and pale, while above the ligature it was warm and swollen. The ligature was loosened slightly, which allowed blood from the arteries to come into the arm, since arteries are deeper in the flesh than the veins. When this was done, the opposite effect was seen in the lower arm. It was now warm and swollen. The veins were also more visible, since now they were full of blood.

Various other advances in medical understanding and practice were made. French physician [[Pierre Fauchard]] started [[dentistry]] science as we know it today, and he has been named "the father of modern dentistry". Surgeon [[Ambroise Paré]] was a leader in surgical techniques and [[battlefield medicine]], especially the treatment of [[wound]]s,<ref>Zimmer, Carl. (2004) ''Soul Made Flesh: The Discovery of the Brain – and How It Changed the World.'' New York: Free Press. {{ISBN|0-7432-7205-6}}</ref> and [[Herman Boerhaave]] is sometimes referred to as a "father of physiology" because of his exemplary teaching in [[Leiden]] and his textbook ''Institutiones medicae'' (1708).

===Chemistry===
[[File:Sceptical chymist 1661 Boyle Title page AQ18 (3).jpg|upright=0.9|thumb|right|Title page from ''[[The Sceptical Chymist]]'', a foundational text of chemistry, written by Robert Boyle in 1661]]

[[Chemistry]], and its antecedent [[alchemy]], became an increasingly important aspect of scientific thought in the course of the 16th and 17th centuries. The importance of chemistry is indicated by the range of important scholars who actively engaged in chemical research. Among them were the astronomer [[Tycho Brahe]],<ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1086/354267| title = Laboratory Design and the Aim of Science: Andreas Libavius versus Tycho Brahe| journal = Isis| volume = 77| issue = 4| pages = 585–610| year = 1986| last1 = Hannaway | first1 = O. | s2cid = 144538848}}</ref> the chemical physician [[Paracelsus]], [[Robert Boyle]], [[Thomas Browne]] and Isaac Newton. Unlike the mechanical philosophy, the chemical philosophy stressed the active powers of matter, which alchemists frequently expressed in terms of vital or active principles—of spirits operating in nature.<ref>Westfall, Richard S. (1983) ''Never at Rest''. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-27435-4}}. pp. 18–23.</ref>

Practical attempts to improve the refining of ores and their extraction to [[Smelting|smelt]] metals were an important source of information for early chemists in the 16th century, among them [[Georgius Agricola]], who published his great work ''[[De re metallica]]'' in 1556.<ref>[http://www.scs.uiuc.edu/~mainzv/exhibit/agricola.htm Agricola, Georg (1494–1555)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123032301/http://www.scs.uiuc.edu/~mainzv/exhibit/agricola.htm |date=23 November 2008 }}. Scs.uiuc.edu. Retrieved on 26 September 2011.</ref> His work describes the highly developed and complex processes of mining metal ores, metal extraction and metallurgy of the time. His approach removed the mysticism associated with the subject, creating the practical base upon which others could build.<ref>[[Karl Alfred von Zittel|von Zittel, Karl Alfred]] (1901) ''History of Geology and Palaeontology'', p. 15</ref>

Chemist [[Robert Boyle]] is considered to have refined the modern scientific method for alchemy and to have separated chemistry further from alchemy.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131203073012/http://understandingscience.ucc.ie/pages/sci_robertboyle.htm Robert Boyle]. understandingscience.ucc.ie</ref> Although his research clearly has its roots in the alchemical tradition, Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist and therefore one of the founders of modern chemistry, and one of the pioneers of modern experimental scientific method. Although Boyle was not the original discoverer, he is best known for [[Boyle's law]], which he presented in 1662:<ref name=acottLaw>{{cite journal |author=Acott, Chris |title=The diving "Law-ers": A brief resume of their lives. |journal=[[South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society Journal]] |volume=29 |issue=1 |year=1999 |issn=0813-1988 |oclc=16986801 |url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/5990 |access-date=17 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110402073203/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/5990 |archive-date=2 April 2011 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> the law describes the inversely proportional relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas, if the temperature is kept constant within a [[closed system]].<ref>Levine, Ira. N (1978). "Physical Chemistry" University of Brooklyn: [[McGraw-Hill]].  p. 12</ref>

Boyle is also credited for his landmark publication ''[[The Sceptical Chymist]]'' in 1661, which is seen as a cornerstone book in the field of chemistry. In the work, Boyle presents his hypothesis that every phenomenon was the result of collisions of particles in motion. Boyle appealed to chemists to experiment and asserted that experiments denied the limiting of chemical elements to only the classic four: earth, fire, air, and water. He also pleaded that chemistry should cease to be subservient to medicine or to alchemy, and rise to the status of a science. Importantly, he advocated a rigorous approach to scientific experiment: he believed all theories must be tested experimentally before being regarded as true. The work contains some of the earliest modern ideas of [[atom]]s, [[molecule]]s, and [[chemical reaction]], and marks the beginning of modern chemistry.

=== Physical ===

==== Optics ====
[[File:Kepler - Ad Vitellionem paralipomena quibus astronomiae pars optica traditur, 1604 - 158093 F.jpg|199px|thumb|right|The first treatise about optics by [[Johannes Kepler]], ''Ad Vitellionem paralipomena quibus astronomiae pars optica traditur'' (1604)]][[File:Opticks.jpg|upright|thumb|[[Isaac Newton]]'s 1704 ''[[Opticks|Opticks: or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light]]'']]
In 1604 Johannes Kepler published ''Astronomiae Pars Optica'' (''The Optical Part of Astronomy''). In it, he describes the inverse-square law governing the intensity of [[light]], reflection by flat and curved mirrors, and principles of [[pinhole camera]]s, as well as the astronomical implications of optics such as [[parallax]] and the apparent sizes of heavenly bodies. ''Astronomiae Pars Optica'' is generally recognized as the foundation of modern [[optics]].<ref>Caspar, Max (1993) ''Kepler''. Courier Corporation. {{ISBN|0-486-67605-6}}. pp. 142–46</ref>

[[Willebrord Snellius]] found the mathematical law of [[refraction]], now known as [[Snell's law]], in 1621. It had been published earlier in 984 AD by [[Ibn Sahl (mathematician)|Ibn Sahl]]. Subsequently René Descartes showed, by using geometric construction and the law of refraction (also known as Descartes' law), that the angular radius of a rainbow is 42° (i.e. the angle subtended at the eye by the edge of the rainbow and the rainbow's centre is 42°).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tipler|first=P.A. and G. Mosca|year=2004|title=Physics for Scientists and Engineers|publisher=W.H. Freeman|isbn=978-0-7167-4389-7|page= 1068}}</ref> He also independently discovered the [[Specular reflection|law of reflection]], and his essay on optics was the first published mention of this law. [[Christiaan Huygens]] wrote several works in the area of optics. These included the ''Opera reliqua'' (also known as ''Christiani Hugenii Zuilichemii, dum viveret Zelhemii toparchae, opuscula posthuma'') and the ''[[Traité de la lumière]]''.

Newton investigated the refraction of light, demonstrating that a [[Dispersive prism|prism]] could decompose white light into a [[Visible spectrum|spectrum]] of colours, and that a [[lens]] and a second prism could recompose the multicoloured spectrum into white light. He also showed that the coloured light does not change its properties by separating out a coloured beam and shining it on various objects. Newton noted that regardless of whether it was reflected or scattered or transmitted, it stayed the same colour. Thus, he observed that colour is the result of objects interacting with already-coloured light rather than objects generating the colour themselves. This is known as [[Early life of Isaac Newton#Newton's theory of colour|Newton's theory of colour]]. From this work he concluded that any refracting [[telescope]] would suffer from the [[dispersion (optics)|dispersion]] of light into colours. The interest of the Royal Society encouraged him to publish his notes ''On Colour''. Newton argued that light is composed of particles or ''corpuscles'' and that are refracted by accelerating toward the denser medium, but he had to associate them with [[wave]]s to explain the [[diffraction]] of light.

In his ''Hypothesis of Light'' of 1675, Newton posited the existence of the [[luminiferous aether|ether]] to transmit forces between particles. In 1704, Newton published ''[[Opticks]]'', in which he expounded his corpuscular theory of light. He considered light to be made up of extremely subtle corpuscles, that ordinary matter was made of grosser corpuscles and speculated that through a kind of alchemical transmutation "Are not gross Bodies and Light convertible into one another, ...and may not Bodies receive much of their Activity from the Particles of Light which enter their Composition?"<ref>{{Citation |last=Dobbs |first=J.T. |date=December 1982 |title=Newton's Alchemy and His Theory of Matter |journal=Isis |volume=73 |issue=4 |pages=523 |doi=10.1086/353114|s2cid=170669199 }} quoting ''Opticks''</ref>

[[Antonie van Leeuwenhoek]] constructed powerful single lens microscopes and made extensive observations that he published around 1660, paving the way for the science of microbiology.

==== Electricity ====
[[File:Guericke Sulfur globe.jpg|thumb|right|[[Otto von Guericke]]'s experiments on [[electrostatics]], published 1672]]

William Gilbert, in ''De Magnete'', invented the [[Neo-Latin]] word ''electricus'' from ''{{lang|grc|ἤλεκτρον}}'' (''elektron''), the Greek word for "amber". Gilbert undertook a number of careful electrical experiments, in the course of which he discovered that many substances other than amber, such as sulphur, wax, glass, etc.,<ref name=pr>Priestley, Joseph (1757) ''History of Electricity''. London</ref> were capable of manifesting electrical properties. Gilbert discovered that a heated body lost its electricity and that moisture prevented the [[electrification]] of all bodies. He noticed that electrified substances attracted all other substances indiscriminately, whereas a magnet only attracted iron. The many discoveries of this nature earned Gilbert the title ''founder of the electrical science''.<ref name="EncyclopediaAmericana">Maver, William, Jr.: "Electricity, its History and Progress", [https://archive.org/stream/encyclopediaame21unkngoog#page/n210/mode/1up The Encyclopedia Americana; a library of universal knowledge, vol. X, pp.&nbsp;172ff]. (1918). New York: Encyclopedia Americana Corp.</ref> By investigating the forces on a light metallic needle, balanced on a point, he extended the list of electric bodies and found that many substances, including metals and natural magnets, showed no attractive forces when rubbed. He noticed that dry weather with north or east wind was the most favourable atmospheric condition for exhibiting electric phenomena—an observation liable to misconception until the difference between [[Electrical conductor|conductor]] and [[Insulator (electricity)|insulator]] was understood.<ref name="Dampier, W. C. D.">Dampier, W.C.D. (1905). The theory of experimental electricity. Cambridge physical series. Cambridge [Eng.: University Press.</ref>

Robert Boyle worked frequently at the new science of electricity and added several substances to Gilbert's list of electrics. He left a detailed account of his researches under the title of ''Experiments on the Origin of Electricity''.<ref name="Dampier, W. C. D." /> In 1675 Boyle stated that electric attraction and repulsion can act across a vacuum. One of his important discoveries was that electrified bodies in a vacuum would attract light substances, this indicating that the electrical effect did not depend upon the air as a medium.<ref name=pr/><ref name="EncyclopediaAmericana" /><ref>Benjamin, P. (1895). [https://books.google.com/books?id=hkMPAAAAMAAJ A history of electricity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208081359/https://books.google.com/books?id=hkMPAAAAMAAJ |date=8 December 2022 }}: (The intellectual rise in electricity) from antiquity to the days of Benjamin Franklin. New York: J. Wiley & Sons.</ref><ref>Boyle, Robert (1676). ''Experiments and notes about the mechanical origin or production of particular qualities''.</ref><ref>Boyle, Robert (1675) ''Experiments on the Origin of Electricity''</ref>

This was followed in 1660 by [[Otto von Guericke]], who invented an early [[electrostatic generator]]. By the end of the 17th century, researchers had developed practical means of generating electricity by friction with an electrostatic generator, but the development of electrostatic machines did not begin in earnest until the 18th century when they became fundamental instruments in the studies about the science of electricity. The first usage of the word ''electricity'' is ascribed to [[Thomas Browne]] in his 1646 work ''[[Pseudodoxia Epidemica]]''. In 1729 [[Stephen Gray (scientist)|Stephen Gray]] demonstrated that electricity could be "transmitted" through metal filaments.<ref>{{cite book | last = Jenkins | first = Rhys | title = Links in the History of Engineering and Technology from Tudor Times | publisher = Ayer Publishing | year = 1936| page = 66 | isbn = 978-0-8369-2167-0}}</ref>