development-of-electric-charge

The historical evolution of the concept of electric charge from ancient Greek ideas to the formalization by Franklin and Coulomb.

2 chapters across 1 book

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962)Thomas S. Kuhn

3. Duane Roller and Duane H. D. Roller, The Development of the Concept of Electric Charge: Electricity from the Greeks to Coulomb (“Harvard Case Histories in Experimental Science,” Case 8; Cambridge, Mass., 1954); and I. B. Cohen, Franklin and Newton: An Inquiry into Speculative Newtonian Experimental Science and Franklin’s Work in Electricity as an Example Thereof (Philadelphia, 1956), chaps. vii–xii. For some of the analytic detail in the paragraph that follows in the text, I am indebted to a still unpublished paper by my student John L. Heilbron. Pending its publication, a somewhat more extended and more precise account of the emergence of Franklin’s paradigm is included in T. S. Kuhn, “The Function of Dogma in Scientific Research,” in A. C. Crombie (ed.), “Symposium on the History of Science, University of Oxford, July 9–15, 1961,” to be published by Heinemann Educational Books, Ltd.

This chapter provides detailed references and scholarly context for the historical development of the concept of electric charge, focusing on the transition from early Greek ideas to the paradigm established by Franklin and Coulomb. It highlights the analytical contributions of various historians and scholars, including Duane Roller, I. B. Cohen, and John L. Heilbron, emphasizing the gradual recognition of electrical phenomena such as repulsive effects and the role of dogma in scientific research. The chapter also situates this development within broader historical and philosophical frameworks, referencing Bacon's natural history of heat and medieval physics.

8. Duane Roller and Duane H. D. Roller, The Development of the Concept of Electric Charge (Cambridge, Mass., 1954), pp. 21–29.

This chapter primarily consists of bibliographic references and citations related to the historical development of scientific concepts, particularly focusing on the concept of electric charge and foundational scientific works by Galileo and others. It highlights the importance of historical and psychological perspectives in understanding scientific innovation and the evolution of scientific ideas. The references also point to the role of subconscious intuition and logic in scientific discovery, especially in mathematical fields.