The Story of Electricity

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Recommended: Essays on electricity as scientific discovery

In a recent newspaper article (Guernsey electricity supply ‘more’ expensive in May 2012) it stated that electricity costs are going to increase and supplies would become unreliable or erratic. It is obvious that this will cause a considerable distress and discomfort for the residents of Guernsey because electricity is needed for warmth and lighting. The purpose of this essay is to describe how and why electricity has become such an important part of people’s lives.

By way of background, it is important to state what electricity actually means. According to The Need Project (Electricity: The Mysterious Force), electricity simply means electrons in motion. These electrons are tiny particles found in atoms. An atom consists of protons and neutrons. Protons and electrons are attracted to each other are attracted by each other and carry and electric charge. The proton is positively charged while the electron is negatively charged.

According to The Electricity Forum: Electricity history 2012, electricity was first found in ancient Greece by Greek Philosophers over two thousand years ago. They discovered that when amber and cloth are rubbed against each other, there tends to be a form of attraction between the two. They called it the basics of electricity. Also, the article stated that many electricity-related discoveries were made during that period. In addition, Kowalski, K. M. 2009 stated that before the early 1900’s the source of light was from candles and oil and gas lamps. However, it was very dangerous as it could cause fire explosions.

There have been three respected people whom in the past contributed greatly to the development of electricity. Firstly, Benjamin Franklyn. He was an American scientist who established...

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...ion=2&contentSet=GALE%7CA211235661&&docId=GALE|A211235661&docType=GALE&role=ITOF&docLevel=FULLTEXT on 24th May, 2012.

Sharman, F and Parker, B. The History of Electric Supply in the Area. Retrieved from http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/articles/electricity/history1.htm on 22nd June, 2012.

The Electricity Forum: Electricity History. Retrieved from http://www.electricityforum.com/electricity-history.html on 20th May, 2012.

The Electricity Forum: Dangers of Electricity. Retrieved from http://www.electricityforum.com/dangers-of-electricity.html on 24th May, 2012.

The Need Project (Electricity: The Mysterious Force) retrieved from http://www.need.org/needpdf/infobook_activities/IntInfo/Elec1I.pdf on 20th May, 2012.

Woodford, C. 2011 Electrical transformers. Retrieved from http://www.explainthatstuff.com/transformers.html on 22nd May, 2012.

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