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William Gilberd
William Gilberd was the pioneer of the study of
magnetism in England and he lived in Trinity Street, Colchester.
It is a common misconception that William Gilberd, used a 't' at the
end of his name. In the few remaining signatures, we can plainly see
that he was William Gilberd. For this reason he is always refered to as
Gilberd in Colchester, and not the commonly held belief, Gilbert -
Information helpfully supplied by Kirsty at Colchester Castle Museum
Part of his house, pictured right, survives as Tymperleys, the town's
clock museum, and the Gilberd School in High Woods, Colchester, is named
after him.
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William Gilberd (or Gilbert) was the pioneer of the study of magnetism in
England and he lived in Trinity Street, Colchester.
Part of his house, pictured left, survives as Tymperleys, the town's clock
museum, and the Gilberd School in High Woods, Colchester, is named after him.
Gilberd is buried at Holy Trinity Church, Colchester, and his statue looks over
High Street from the Victorian town hall.
Gilberd was born as the scientific renaissance, led by Copernicus and Vesalius,
began in Europe.
His work on electro-magnetism was a landmark in the science and he was also
court physician to Elizabeth I and James I and president of the Royal College of
Physicians.
Gilberd is credited, with William Harvey, as playing a major role in the
reintroduction of the experimental method into science.
His De magnete, magneticisque corporibus is generally regarded as the first
great scientific book by an Englishman and came as other great men of the Tudor
period, like Francis Bacon, Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh pushed forward the
frontiers of the known world.
Gilberd's theory was that the earth was a lodestone with north and south
magnetic poles, influencing the solar system. His work helped to lead to the
concept of gravity as an attracting force between masses. He was also among the
first to distinguish magnetism from static electricity.
Reproduced with thanks from
thisisessex.co.uk
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