Electrical Researches of Henry Cavendish

Henry Cavendish's writings on electricity from 1771 to 1781, edited a century later by James Clerk Maxwell.

James Clerk Maxwell (Edited by), Henry Cavendish (Author)

9781108009423, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 May 2010

532 pages, 12 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 3 cm, 0.77 kg

Henry Cavendish (1731–1810), the grandson of the second duke of Devonshire, wrote papers on electrical topics for the Royal Society, but the majority of his electrical experiments did not become known until they were collected and published by James Clerk Maxwell a century later, in 1879, long after other scientists had been credited with the same results. Among Cavendish's discoveries were the concept of electric potential, which he called the 'degree of electrification'; an early unit of capacitance, that of a sphere one inch in diameter; the formula for the capacitance of a plate capacitor; the concept of the dielectric constant of a material; the relationship between electric potential and current, now called Ohm's Law; laws for the division of current in parallel circuits, now attributed to Charles Wheatstone; and the inverse square law of variation of electric force with distance, now called Coulomb's Law.

Introduction
Account of Cavendish's writings on electricity
1. First published papers on electricity
2. Preliminary propositions
3. Appendix
4. Thoughts concerning electricity
5. Account of the experiments
6. Second published paper on electricity
7. Experiments in 1771
8. Experiments in 1772
9. Index to electrical experiments, 1773
10. Measures
11. Experiments with the artificial torpedo
12. Resistance to electricity
13. Calibration of tubes
14. Resistance of copper wire
15. Result
16. Results
Notes by the editor
Index.

Subject Areas: Statistical physics [PHS]