Mills, Allan A. (Author)
Annals of Science: The History of Science and Technology
Volume: 61
Pages: 453--467
In the early 1800s galvanometers could be constructed with the fine gauges of silk-covered copper or silver wires produced for decorative purposes, but when Faraday was making his classic electrical experiments in 1831 he needed a sturdier gauge of copper wire. Bare copper wire was available in many diameters for mechanical applications, but coils for electromagnetic investigations had to be insulated with string and calico. It was soon realized that the cotton-covered springy iron wire then used to hold out the brims of ladies' bonnets showed how copper wire might be similarly wrapped to provide a flexible insulation. The simple manual machines used by the bonnet-wire makers were readily adapted and improved, and a six-head version was built by William Henley. This craftsman's vision of the growing importance of insulated copper wire was abundantly justified, and he built up a large--but poorly organised--empire in the wire and cable trade. Henley's original multiple-head wrapping machine has been located in the Science Museum, London, and the associated silk-covered copper wire subjected to physical, chemical, and electrical testing. For comparison, the electrical conductivity of the 'mechanical grade' copper wire used by Faraday has also been determined.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Article
Mills, Allan A.;
(2003)
Early Voltaic Batteries: An Evaluation in Modern Units and Application to the Work of Davy and Faraday
(/isis/citation/CBB000340483/)
Article
Sudo, Kikuo;
Shimizu, Koichi;
(1985)
Faraday's experiment on unipolar induction. (In Japanese.)
(/isis/citation/CBB000030837/)
Article
Morus, Iwan Rhys;
(1988)
The sociology of sparks: An episode in the history and meaning of electricity
(/isis/citation/CBB000062619/)
Book
Hirshfeld, Alan;
(2006)
The Electric Life of Michael Faraday
(/isis/citation/CBB000773350/)
Article
Cobb, Aaron D.;
(2009)
Michael Faraday's “Historical Sketch of Electro-Magnetism” and the Theory-Dependence of Experimentation
(/isis/citation/CBB001230094/)
Article
Pratt-Smith, Stella;
(2012)
The Poetic Science of Nineteenth-Century Electricity
(/isis/citation/CBB001200845/)
Book
Steinle, Friedrich;
(2005)
Explorative Experimente: Ampère, Faraday und die Ursprünge der Elektrodynamik
(/isis/citation/CBB001033912/)
Book
Forbes, Nancy;
Mahon, Basil;
(2014)
Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field: How Two Men Revolutionized Physics
(/isis/citation/CBB001551506/)
Chapter
Steinle, Friedrich;
(2003)
The Practice of Studying Practice: Analyzing Laboratory Records of Ampère and Faraday
(/isis/citation/CBB000330783/)
Article
Gooding, David;
(1981)
Final steps to the field theory: Faraday's study of magnetic phenomena, 1845-1850
(/isis/citation/CBB000012463/)
Book
Faraday, Michael;
(2000)
Experimental Researches in Electricity
(/isis/citation/CBB000100206/)
Article
Steinle, Friedrich;
(1994)
Experiment, speculation and law: Faraday's analysis of Arago's wheel
(/isis/citation/CBB000036475/)
Article
Nersessian, Nancy J.;
(1988)
Reasoning from imagery and analogy in scientific concept formation
(/isis/citation/CBB000035852/)
Chapter
La Forgia, Mauro;
(1994)
Materialismo e immaterialismo in Faraday
(/isis/citation/CBB000068581/)
Thesis
Crawford, Elspeth;
()
The concepts of “particle” and “field” in Michael Faraday's work, 1831-1845
(/isis/citation/CBB000039975/)
Article
Thomas, John Meurig;
(2006)
Faraday and Franklin
(/isis/citation/CBB001232051/)
Article
Cobb, Aaron D.;
(2011)
History and Scientific Practice in the Construction of an Adequate Philosophy of Science: Revisiting a Whewell/Mill Debate
(/isis/citation/CBB001024143/)
Chapter
Steinle, Friedrich;
(2009)
How Experiments Make Concepts Fail: Faraday and Magnetic Curves
(/isis/citation/CBB001020629/)
Article
Knudsen, Ole;
(1976)
The Faraday effect and physical theory, 1845-1873
(/isis/citation/CBB000014847/)
Article
Smith, Glenn S.;
(2013)
Faraday's First Dynamo: A Retrospective
(/isis/citation/CBB001320909/)
Be the first to comment!