Science: History of Electricity

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Have you had a power cut recently?  Almost nothing works!  No lights, no heat, not anything we deem to be essential to our modern lives.  We all rely upon electricity nowadays, yet less than 100 years ago we lived without it in our homes. 

About 2,000 years ago, Thales of Miletus – or was it Mrs Thales? – discovered the properties of amber (electron – or ελεκτρον in Greek).  Little did he think how our lives would be revolutionised by his discovery.  Amazingly, however, no further useful work would be done in that area until the year 1800 when Volta and Galvani and …but that would spoil the story!  Learn how it all happened and about the people who made it happen.