Any love for the history of electrical experiments?

[sjgallagher2]

Hey all! I'm an electrical engineer and hobbyist, I like analog and RF/microwave, and I also like studying the history of science. So back during the pandemic I was doing random presentations with my friends, and realized I could try and make video essays about the history of electrical experiments, starting at the beginning (1600) and working my way forwards. I've been reproducing experiments and doing a lot of research ever since, including:

• Performing some of the earliest recorded experiments of static electricity by William Gilbert
• Translating somewhat obscure Latin texts and transcribing old Italian handwritten notes
• Melting down a pound of sulfur (really) to reproduce Otto von Guericke's sulfur globe experiments
• Reconstructing my own glass globe electrostatic generator from the earliest design, from Francis Hauksbee

I'm pretty proud of this work because a lot of it hasn't been seen in video format before, or in pictures for that matter, and I think it's really cool to read something from say, 1705, and then put it to the test to compare notes. So this is part self-promotion, and part wanting to simply share the fascinating history of electrical experiments with people who might find it interesting!

I also hope I can inspire people to follow suit and try experimenting with static electricity themselves. There's plenty of fun and interesting experiments to draw from, from the plain-and-simple to the quite-involved.

Anyway, , and feel free to also check out the whole series!

[Gyro]

Yes, great love for such things. Nice work!

[RoGeorge]

Wow, outstanding work! 

Seen the entire playlist and loved it, thank you.  Liked and subscribed, please keep them coming. 
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMKxBlyAyypx7mVGfS3KiWFeJam8dn0u6

[RJSV]

   Speaking of Static Electricity:
   Why not invent a decorative lamp,  having a rotating 'paddle' thingy, that pushes against a plastic surface...like my exercise pad having arrays of bumps.
   Doing that with my hand produces LIGHT in transient flashy form.   I mean, there already are decorative electronic Flicker LEDs that simulate candles.
   Of course the Static Tricity Lamps might emit intolerable levels of interference.

-- ---Rick B.    'Struggling Inventor'
B.S.  EECS.  UC Berkeley 1976

[SteveThackery]

Brilliant work!

[Alex Eisenhut]

Great stuff! You are surely familiar with the 1970s series Connections? And maybe you've already read this:
http://www-smirc.stanford.edu/papers/chapter1.pdf

[TimFox]

I’m always interested in experiments done before “electronics”, i.e., before vacuum tubes.
You might look for Helmholtz’ work with synchronized tuning forks and adjustable resonators to investigate musical tones and overtones.
The master generator was a tuning fork connected to a needle in a cup of mercury.