Twenty Scientific Instruments That Made Great Contributions to Human Progress

Modern society cannot do without electricity. When you enjoy the convenience of electric lights, air conditioners, telephones, and the Internet every day, have you ever wondered how scientists figure out the principle? In The Prologue of Electrical Age, we will look back at 1600 through some 20 important and beautiful historical instruments—The history of electricity in the 1900s. Using scientifically accurate, high-quality computer graphics (CG), we have managed to restore these historical instruments to their original appearance, and to present how they work and the important scientific discoveries associated with them. We plan the final form of 'Prologue of the Electric Age' to be an illustrated popular science book and an interactive iPad app. We are currently looking for co-authors for the project. If you are an experienced science writer and interested in this project, please contact us (liangyan@novoedu.com). The following is a preview of the project: 'Prologue of the Electric Age' is divided into 8 themes, introducing nearly 20 important historical instruments, related scientists and their important scientific discoveries. Below is a preview of the 10 instruments. ?William·Gilbert invented the electrostatic electroscope in 1600, which is the earliest electrostatic detection device. Gilbert was the first scientist to distinguish between electrical and magnetic phenomena. ? Otto·Feng·Triboelectric device invented by Curric in 1663. After rubbing the yellow sulfur ball with your hand, the sulfur ball can attract small objects such as feathers. The nature of his experimental phenomenon was unclear at the time, and he believed that the attraction of the sulphur ball to other objects was similar to that of the Earth. ?Jean-Antoine·Electrostatic generator invented by Noley in 1753. Rubbing rapidly rotating hollow glass spheres with hands or fur can generate a large amount of static charge on the glass surface. ?Leiden Flask by Feng· Kleist invented independently in 1745 and Mussenbrooke in 1745-1746, and takes its name from the city of Leiden, where Mussenbroke is located. The Leiden jar was the first capacitor. ? Benjamin·The Leiden jar battery pack invented by Franklin in 1758. Franklin was the first to use the word Battery to describe a battery pack. Battery previously referred to military platoons. ?Charles·Augustine·Coulomb invented the torsion balance device in 1785. With this sophisticated instrument, Coulomb discovered the famous Coulomb's Law. ?Alessandro·The voltaic pile was invented by Volt in 1800. This is the first chemical battery that can be powered continuously. The invention of the voltaic pile greatly promoted the progress of electrochemistry and electromagnetism. ?Michael·The electromagnetic rotating device invented by Faraday in 1821. This device was the precursor to all electric motors. ?Michael·Faraday discovered the famous phenomenon of electromagnetic induction in 1831. The picture above is the first electromagnetic induction generator invented by Pixie in 1832 based on Faraday's research results. ?Heinrich·An experimental device for electromagnetic wave detection invented by Hertz in 1886. Through this experimental setup, Hertz confirmed the existence of electromagnetic waves for the first time, and determined that the propagation speed of electromagnetic waves is the same as the speed of light.