Biology in the Victorian Era

Abstract

Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, scientists made astounding progress in most branches of science and, to some extent, even in psychology. Many, such as Hans Oersted, André Ampère, Faraday, and Allesandro Volta grasped and harnessed the force of electricity. Oersted would discover that electricity can generate a magnetic field. André Ampère demonstrated that if several wires each carry an electric current, they will attract one another if the currents are flowing in the same direction and repel one another if the reverse is true. He further theorized that magnetism results when “small electrical charges” travel through objects. In fact, this is exceedingly close to the truth.