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Gilbert, William
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Gilbert, William
English scientist who studied magnetism and static electricity, deducing that the Earth's magnetic field behaves as if a bar magnet joined the North and South poles. His book on magnets, published in 1600, is the first printed scientific book based wholly on experimentation and observation.
Gilbert was the first English scientist to accept Nicolas Copernicus's idea that the Earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the Sun. He also believed that the stars are at different distances from the Earth and might be orbited by habitable planets, but erroneously thought that the planets were held in their orbits by magnetic forces.
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