De magnete
From noscemus
| Author | Gilbert, William |
|---|---|
| Full title | Guilielmi Gilberti Colcestrensis, medici Londinensis, de magnete magneticisque corporibus et de magno magnete tellure physiologia nova plurimis et argumentis et experimentis demonstrata |
| Year | 1600 |
| Place | London |
| Publisher/Printer | Short |
| Era | 16th century |
| Form/Genre | Monograph, Encyclopedic work |
| Discipline/Content | Physics, Meteorology/Earth sciences |
| Digital copies | |
| Original | De magnete (Google Books) |
| Digital sourcebook | 608634 |
| Description | Comprising six books and c. 240 pages, this monograph on The Magnet, Magnetic bodies and that great Magnet, the Earth occupies an important place in the history of science in at least two respects: Firstly, it contains the new insight that the earth as a whole can be understood as a big magnet. Secondly, it is one of the very first works in which experiments are systematically used to clarify scientific questions and play a crucial role in the argument (a point already announced in the full title: plurimis et argumentis et experimentis demonstrata); many of these experiments are conducted with the help of a miniature earth for which Gilbert coins the neologism terrella. The body text is preceded by a preface to the reader, a letter by mathematician and cartographer Edward Wright, whose engagement with navigation problems made him take great interest in Gilbert's work, a glossary (containing not only the terrella, but also electrica: quae attrahunt eadem ratione qua electrum) and a table of contents.
Gilbert writes a clear, precise Latin. However, the text would be largely unintelligible without the knowledge of the neologisms elucicated in the glossary. The work is illustrated by a number of simple diagrams and drawings. De magnete was widely read and reprinted several times during the first half of the 17th century, mostly on the continent (Stettin 1628; 1633; Frankfurt 1629; 1638). A number of translations into English have appeared since the end of the 19th century. |
| References | Fleury Mottelay 1893 (trans.) Roller 1959 Kay 1981 Wootton 2015, 92, 273, 315, 318, 328, 330, 331, 347, 485, 517 |
| Cited in | |
| How to cite this entry | Gilbert, William: De magnete, in: Noscemus Wiki, URL: http://wiki.uibk.ac.at/noscemus/De_magnete (last revision: 17.11.2021). |
