Historical Perspective of Electromagnetism

Abstract

When we study electromagnetism from a historical perspective, we are confronted with the convergence of three currents of scientific thought originating in seemingly disparate areas. In electromagnetic theory these areas end up being parts of a single conceptual structure. The historical lines of scientific research converging in electromagnetism include the study of • the structure of the Universe or cosmology, i.e. humankind’s desire to know our location in the Universe; • the phenomena of attraction and repulsion of electric charges and of magnets started by the ancient Greeks, to whom in fact we owe the two parts of the word electro-magnetism; • optical phenomena, i.e. the nature and behavior of light, its decomposition into colors and its velocity of propagation.