movement of charged particles. That process is described in detail in
Chapter 5. In Descartes’s time, descriptions of electricity were only
just beginning to enter the realm of scientific discourse. The word
electricity was introduced into the English lexicon during the 1600s,
its origin being the Greek word for amber—elektron—the fossilized
tree resin known for its properties of attraction: rub a piece of amber
with a cloth, and the amber will attract light materials, such as hair or
small pieces of paper.
By the 1700s, a number of scientific luminaries were researching
and writing about electrical phenomena. Benjamin Franklin (1706-
1790) conducted many experiments with electricity, including, some
have said, flying a kite during a thunderstorm (circa 1752). Electricity
was very much in the air.
(^)