Historical Dictionary of Renaissance

GILBERT, WILLIAM

Gilbert, William: translation

(1540-1603)
English scientist, best known for his study of magnetism. In his principal work,De magnete/On the Magnet(1600), he contended that the earth itself is a great magnet and attempted to explain the phenomena of astronomy as the effects of magnetism. Educated at Cambridge (B.A. 1564, M.D. 1569), he became a successful medical practitioner in London and served as physician to both QueenElizabeth Iand King James I. Gilbert's work involved much carefully recorded experimentation. In bothDe magneteand his second major work,De mundo/On the World, he explicitly rejected the scientific authority ofAristotle.

  1. gilbert, william—GILBERT William translationWilliam Gilbert was a physician and scientist whose De magnete magneticisque corporibus et de magno magnete tellure physiologia novaem On the L...Renaissance and Reformation 1500-1620_ A Biographical Dictionary