From the first great experimental scientist: the classic text, first published in Latin in 1600. Summarizes then-current knowledge of magnetism and electricity, offering insights into the origins of modern science.

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Excerpt from William Gilbert of Colchester, Physician of London: On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies, and on the Great Magnet the Earth; A New Physiology, Demonstrated With Many Arguments and Experiments England's great poet, john Dryden, tells us: It is almost impossible to translate verbally and well at the same time; for the Latin (a most severe and compendious language) often expresses that in one word which either the barbarity or the narrowness of modern tongues cannot supply in more. But since every language is so full of its own proprieties that what is beautiful in one is often barbarous, nay, sometimes nonsense, in another, it would be unreasonable to limit a translator to the narrow compass of his author's words; it is enough if he choose out some expression which does not vitiate the sense. While, in order to do this acceptably in the present instance, it has often been found necessary to adhere very closely (even literally) to the original lines, the candid reader will naturally observe that greater satisfaction has been vouchsafed where paraphrasing has been resorted to for the better comprehension, more particularly, of words of Gilbert's own coinage. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.