TNB Night Owl – Like Amber

Unpolished amber stones.
Unpolished amber stones. Photo by Lanzi.

Amber was prized by ancient humans, who valued the honey-colored stones for their beauty and rarity. They were undoubtedly used as jewelry and traded for goods. Although ancient man most likely didn’t know it, the big difference between amber and other precious gems in human possesion was that gems were actual rocks made of minerals by geological processes, while amber was actually fossilized tree resin. We don’t know how long ago man discovered amber, but we can say with certainty that late Neolithic man possesed amber at least 2,600 years ago. It was then that Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus documented for the first time that rubbing a piece of amber caused dust to be attracted to the stone, and rubbing amber with animal fur caused a similar attraction between the stone and fur. Three centuries later, another Greek, Theophrastus, made and recorded similar observations. Neither man had an explanation for what they had witnessed.

We know now that the attraction between amber and dust or between amber and fur that Thales and Theophrastus observed was caused by static electricity. When two objects rub against one another, and at least one of them is capable of giving up electrons, then a charge can be generated. One of the objects will then have a net positive charge while the other object has a net negative charge. The two objects are then attracted to one another by virtue of the static electric charge difference. The mechanics are understood now, but it took centuries for scientists to figure it all out.

The next human to document the nature of attraction between amber and other objects came in the year A.D. 1600, when William Gilbert wrote a scholarly book he titled, “De Magnete”. Aware of Thales’ and Theophrastus’ investigations of amber, and needing new vocabulary to describe the phenomenon, Gilbert looked to Greek and Latin for inspiration. The ancient Greek word for amber was ἤλεκτρον  (pronounced elektron), and the phrase σαν κεχριμπάρι meant ‘like amber’. In New Latin, electricus meant ‘of amber’, while the classical Latin word electrum meant ‘amber’. Gilbert coined the new word electricity based on these Greek and Latin roots.

Interestingly enough, although ancient humans were well acquainted with lightning (nature’s most dramatic and obvious display of electricity), they didn’t really understand what it was. Simple fossilized tree resin was the quiet messenger that provided humans with the first clue that electricity, atoms, and electrons even existed.

Question of the Night: What, in your opinion, is the most useful/important purpose of electricity?

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About Richard Doud 622 Articles
Learning is a life-long endeavor. Never stop learning. No one is right all the time. No one is wrong all the time. No exceptions to these rules.