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Electricity, an essential part of life for most of the population today, must have originated from somewhere. Some people wonder who created it; others, who discovered it. Since electricity is a form of energy that is naturally present in our environment, scientists did not invent discovery; they discovered it. The distinction between the two verbs is important. It can be the difference between sounding knowledgeable or passing as a naive, non-scientific person.
With that established, we can start answering the true question: who discovered electricity? In short, we're not sure. Archeologists believe the Greeks and Persians might have manipulated electricity long before Benjamin Franklin conducted his kite experiment. A good number of people in the world today think Thomas Eddison discovered it. Thomas Eddison created the first lightbulb. He used electricity, which had already been discovered, to generate light in the form of photons. So Eddison did not discover electricity, the Greeks might have discovered it long ago, the Persians too, and if so, Benjamin Franklin re-discovered it with his kite experiment.
Researchers and archeologists discovered ancient pots containing sheets of copper. Their structure suggests our ancestors used them to light up their villages. Some pots were found on Roman sites. Similar technology was found near Baghdad, a region controlled by Persians at the time the pots were used. These archeological findings suggest ancient people had created a form of battery.
Flash forward to the 1600s, William Gilbert, an English physician, tried to explain static electricity. He used the Latin word "electricus" to describe the force between certain objects when rubbed together. A few years later, Thomas Browne, another Engish physician examined Gilbert's work. He wrote several books about his findings describing the force with the word "electricity". In 1752, Benjamin Franklin conducted his famous kite experiment. During a thunderstorm, he flew a kite that had a key attached to it. His hypothesis was that the lightning in thunderstorms was a form of electricity. If so, the electricity would be conducted along his kite and Benjamin Franklin would be electrocuted (4th source for in depth explanation of the experiment). Just like he predicted, Benjamin Franklin was electrocuted that evening.
In the end, we scientists are not sure who was the very first person to discover electricity. It could have been ancient Persians and Greeks, William Gilbert, or someone else that wasn't accredited for their work. Researchers do know that Thomas Eddison and Benjamin Franklin did not discover electricity. In fact, neither of them sought to discover it. Eddison wanted to use electricity to generate light. Benjamin Franklin wanted to demonstrate that lightning was a form of static electricity. Not once does he claim to have discovered a new source of power.
Everyone agrees on one thing: “Dangerous, therefore, to take shelter under a tree, during a thunder-gust. It has been fatal to many, both men and beasts.” ~Benjamin Franklin
Sources and Other Readings
This article looks at the history of electric discoveries, starting with Ancient Greece and Persia. It also looks at the discoveries past Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment.
This article also looks at the history of electricity. Unlike the previous article, it focusses more on the inventions than the discoveries.
This webpage has it all. If you are interested in learning not only about the history of electricity, this website is for you. Here are the main subjects:
What is electricity?
Electricity in the ancient world: the story of the Baghdad ‘battery’
Ben Franklin and his lightning-kite experiment
The first practical uses of electricity
6 Electricity today and in the future
This website goes into detail about Benjamin Franklin's kite experiement. It also has some great graphics for understanding
This is a simple video explaining electricity. Very little scientific background is required to understand it. It also helps understand many vocabulary words employed when talking about electricity.
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