An Early Electric Motor in India

Abstract

searches of Oersted and Faraday. In 1820 Oersted announced his observations on the deflection of a magnetic needle by a wire carrying a current from a battery,l and in the following year Faraday invented two devices for converting electromagnetic energy into continuous rotary motion, one by making a wire rotate around the pole of a fixed bar magnet and the other by making a magnet precess about a stationary wire.2 Thus was unveiled the principle of the motor, the conversion of electricity into mechanical work. Copies of Faraday's apparatus were constructed in every continental laboratory, and the very serious implications of the existence of circular forces in a Newtonian universe became the focus of attention of top scientists in Europe. This led to a protracted controversy between Faraday and Ampere concerning the interaction between electricity and magnetism.3 In the meantime, news of electromagnetic rotation gradually filtered down to less prominent, even obscure, men of a wide spectrum of abilities and interests, including professors, teachers in academies, doctors, mechanics, clergymen, and inventors generally. These men began to dream of replacing steam by electricity. There was ample incentive for such speculation, because steam engines were bulky and prone to boiler explosions, whereas batteries were relatively safe.