The Wit of the Staircase

Drawing Down The Lightning

In 1750 Benjamin Franklin published a proposal for an experiment to prove that lightning is electricity by flying a kite in a storm that appeared capable of becoming a lightning storm. On May 10, 1752, Thomas Francois d'Alibard of France conducted Franklin's experiment (using a 40-foot-tall iron rod instead of a kite) and extracted electrical sparks from a cloud. On June 15, Franklin conducted his famous kite experiment and also successfully extracted sparks from a cloud, unaware that d'Alibard had already done so, 36 days earlier. Others, such as Prof. Georg Wilhelm Richmann of St. Petersburg, Russia, were spectacularly electrocuted during the months following Franklin's experiment.

Franklin, in his writings, displays that he was aware of the dangers and offered alternative ways to demonstrate that lightning was electrical, as shown by his invention of the lightning rod, an application of the use of electrical ground. If Franklin did perform this experiment, he did not do it in the way that is often described, as it would have been dramatic but fatal. Instead he used the kite to collect some electric charge from a storm cloud, which implied that lightning was electrical.

Painting by Benjamin West, "Franklin Drawing Electricity From A Cloud."

Independent From The Scene I've Known

"Well, they say that Santa Fe is less than ninety miles away,
And I got time to roll a number and rent a car.
Oh, Albuquerque.

I've been flyin' down the road, and I've been starvin' to be alone,
And independent from the scene that I've known.
Albuquerque."

--Neil Young

August trip to Walter De Maria's Lightning Field. This is the inside of the cabin. Lightning later.

Mrs. Roentgen's Hand

On 8 November 1895, German physics professor Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen (1845-1923) worked in his darkened Wurzburg laboratory. His experiments focused on light phenomena and other emissions generated by discharging electrical current in highly-evacuated glass tubes. These tubes, known generically as "Crookes tubes," after the British investigator William Crookes (1832-1919), were widely available. Roentgen was interested in cathode rays and in assessing their range outside of charged tubes.

To Roentgen's surprise, he noted that when his cardboard-shrouded tube was charged, an object across the room began to glow. This proved to be a barium platinocyanide-coated screen too far away to be reacting to the cathode rays as he understood them. We know little about the sequence of his work over the next few days, except that while holding materials between the tube and screen to test the new rays, he saw the bones of his hand clearly displayed in an outline of flesh.

It is impossible for observers accustomed to modern imaging to gauge the mixture of wonder and disbelief Roentgen must have felt that day. When he immobilised for some moments the hand of his wife in the path of the rays over a photographic plate, he observed after development of the plate an image of his wife's hand which showed the shadows thrown by the bones of her hand and that of a ring she was wearing, surrounded by the penumbra of the flesh, which was more permeable to the rays and therefore threw a fainter shadow.

On 28 December 1895 Roentgen gave his preliminary report "Uber eine neue Art von Strahlen" to the president of the Wurzburg Physical-Medical Society, accompanied by experimental radiographs and by the image of his wife's hand. By New Year's Day he had sent the printed report to physicist friends across Europe. January saw the world gripped by "X-ray mania," and Roentgen acclaimed as the discoverer of a medical miracle. Roentgen won the first Nobel prize in physics in 1901.

The Chandelier Lady Corresponds

"Dear Theresa, I do not know you, but I heard from a friend you are interested in the history of electricity, and thought you might be interested in the following story. I was diagnosed 14 yrs ago with petite mal epilepsy which gave me constant migrains [sic] and the attacks I had were awful, I had these attacks since childhood and I thought I would never get better. Then in 1995 I was working at a gallery finishing an installation. The gallery artist asked if I would help scrub the paint off the floor and while I was doing this on hands and knees in a pool of water, they placed several broken clamp lights on the floor next to me in an attempt to dry the floor. When I touched one of the lights to try and turn it off, thats when I almost died. I was suddenly encompassed by a white light which felt wonderful, I was at peace, it was all encompassing. I don't know how long i was under but when I awoke, the world seemed a different place, I could see so much better and I felt great!

After a few months I had not had any epilepsy attacks so I went to my neurologist for a check-up. He came to the conclusion that I was cured and my vision had improved to 20/20 and would no longer need my reading glasses!! Well I now have been drawn to electricity and have my own buisiness making and restoring chandeliers and light fixtures, I am drawn to anything electrical and guess what, the doctor was right, I havent had an epileptic attack since the incedent. I am a new person and yes, I am constantly shocking people and getting shocked from static electricity. E-mail me if you have any questions. Thank You
Jessica Kay < JessieKayLamps@aol.com>"

Lightning, Mushrooms, Omens

.Injuries from man-made, generated, or "technical" electricity have been reported for only about 150 years; but injuries from lightning predate writing. Depictions of lightning affecting people or events appear in writings and drawings from ancient times. Although such an occurrence was sometimes interpreted as a positive sign of blessing, more often it was seen as a sign of the god's warning or vengeance.

Priests, the earliest astronomers and meteorologists, became proficient at weather prediction, interpreting changes in weather as omens of good or bad fortune, sometimes to the advantage of their political mentors. Observations of lightning and other natural phenomena were often used to decide matters of state, the scheduling of battles or other events. Lightning from the east was usually seen as a good omen. This is reasonable because it is probably the end of a storm. Lightning from the west was ominous, but also meant a storm was probably approaching.

Ancient Romans saw Jove's thunderbolts as a sign of condemnation and denied burial rites to those killed by lightning. Andeans hold similar beliefs and may ostracize the victim. In some cultures, medicines are made from stones that are believed to be a result of lightning strike. Roman, Hindu, and Mayan cultures all have myths that mushrooms arise from spots where lightning has hit the ground

The Autodidact Of Elephant and Castle

One of the principal inventors, experimenters and discoverers of electricity was also fascinated by the first domestic lighting device, the candle.

Michael Faraday has been a hero of mine since childhood. In fourth grade I briefly kept his portrait in a locket I wore around my neck. Faraday is one of greatest experimentalists in the history of science, through his efforts electricity became a viable technology. Faraday was born in Newington Butts, near present-day Elephant and Castle, London. His family was poor and he had to educate himself, but he soon showed a talent for chemistry and physics that confounded educated scientists. Among many, many, other discoveries and inventions, Faraday constructed the first electric dynamo.

Fascinated with candles, he gave a successful series of lectures on the chemistry and physics of flames at the Royal Institution, entitled The Chemical History of a Candle. This lecture was the origin of the Christmas lectures for young people that are still given there every year, now known as the Faraday lectures.

He is famous for saying "nothing is too wonderful to be true."