van Musschenbroek, Pieter (Petrus)

Pieter van Musschenbroek was a Dutch physicist who invented the Leyden jar (1745), a device for storing electric charge constructed by placing water in a metal container suspended by insulating silk cords and placing a brass wire through a cork into the water. The same device was invented independently by Kleist at about the same time, but not published. Musschenbroek’s experiments provided one of the first scientific studies of electrical charge and its properties. In 1729, he used the word "physics" which had never been used before.

Sources

  • Cleveland, Cutler (Lead Author); Peter Saundry (Topic Editor). 2007. "Musschenbroek, Pieter (Petrus) van." In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [Published in the Encyclopedia of Earth March 8, 2007; Retrieved October 25, 2009]. <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Musschenbroek,_Pieter_(Petrus)_van>

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