Re: [Phys-l] Electrostatic demonstrations

[Bernard Cleyet <bernardcleyet@redshift.com>]

Probably Desaguliers * [1683=> 1744].   However, Wm. Watson 
[1715=>1787],  "... explained more clearly than Desaguliers had done, 
that atmospheric moisture destroyed electricity  by conduction *."

* I couldn't find the reference, only the quote above.

** "The leak derives primarily through surface conductivity promoted by 
the moisture, not from loss to the air, a point not understood until the 
end of the 19th century.  Ref: "Conduction of Electricity through 
Gasses  I",  the Thomsons,  Cambridge 1928.   Quoted:  Electricity in 
the 17th and 18th Centuries,  Heilbron, J. L. UC Press (1979)

bc, collector of miscellany.

Ludwik Kowalski wrote:

> When was the the effect of humidity recognized as a factor influencing 
> electrostatic demonstrations? I suspect that Ben Franklin was already 
> familiar with the effect of humidity. But I am not sure. Who was the 
> first to write about this?
>
> Ludwik Kowalski
> Let the perfect not be the enemy of the good.
> _______________________________________________
> Forum for Physics Educators
> Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
> https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l
>
>
>