A HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



gravitation. Meanwhile, there was an English phi- 

 losopher of corresponding genius, whose attention was 

 directed towards investigation of the equally mys- 

 terious force of terrestrial magnetism. With the 

 doubtful exception of Bacon, Gilbert was the most dis- 

 tinguished man of science in England during the reign 

 of Queen Elizabeth. He was for many years court 

 physician, and Queen Elizabeth ultimately settled 

 upon him a pension that enabled him to continue his 

 researches in pure science. 



His investigations in chemistry, although supposed 

 to be of great importance, are mostly lost ; but his great 

 work, De Magnete, on which he labored for upwards 

 of eighteen years, is a work of sufficient importance, as 

 Hallam says, " to raise a lasting reputation for its 

 author." From its first appearance it created a pro- 

 found impression upon the learned men of the con- 

 tinent, although in England Gilbert's theories seem 

 to have been somewhat less favorably received. Gal- 

 ileo freely expressed his admiration for the work and 

 its author; Bacon, who admired the author, did not 

 express the same admiration for his theories; but 

 Dr. Priestley, later, declared him to be " the father of 

 modern electricity." 



Strangely enough, Gilbert's book had never been 

 translated into English, or apparently into any other 

 language, until recent years, although at the time of its 

 publication certain learned men, unable to read the 

 book in the original, had asked that it should be. By 

 this neglect, or oversight, a great number of general 

 readers as well as many scientists, through succeeding 

 centuries, have been deprived of the benefit of writ- 



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