The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments (81-205)

I have just completed the book of The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments, and thoroughly enjoyed reading it from cover to cover. The book loved was incredible, though it is much different than that of a regular book that one would read. It is a book for one who has a love of science, because this book is about how and thoroughly explains how the experiment was carried out.

One of my favorite chapters is chapter seven, in which they try to explain the experiment about how James Joule, explains how the world works in his perspective. Joule, in 1847 creates the workings of an electrical motor, that resembles one that we use today.

Early On, Joule noticed that the strength of an electromagnet inceased as the square of the current. By doubling the number of batteries, you quadrupled the power. The possibility that the same my be true for an electric motor must have seemed as stunning as cold fusion did in the 1980's. "I can hardly doubt that electro-magnetism will ultimtally be substituted for steam to propel machinery," Joule declared with the enthusiasm of a twenty-year-old unused to the troubles posed by the material world. (96)

I found this section to be especially intriguing, because for some reason since I have been a little kid, have loved tinkering with electricity and the use of motors. The idea of how long ago more than 150 years ago when they were using electricity to work motors is amazing. The account of one of the first people, in detail of how he made an it, is just incredible. Then to go even further, he goes to the point of explaining that he thinks that the electric motor will replace the steam engines and will be made to be dominate in machinery. He was incredibly right even though it was such a long time ago. How could one predict the future based of of an invention of his own that he would not live to see put into every day use?

Johnson, George. The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments. New York City: Random House Incorporated, 2008.