In 1746 physicist Pieter van Musschenbroek, of Leiden University in the Nederlands, tried pumping electricity from an electrostatic generator into a bottle of water. There's no accounting for some people. Nothing seemed to happen but, when he picked up the jar to disconnect it, he got an almighty wallop. The Leyden Jar was born, called a condenser, because it held 'condensed' electricity!

Some of the theory taken for granted, taught in our colleges & universities comes from then, or earlier. Many formulae date back 150 years or more. Benjamin Franklin postulated in 1752 that electricity consisted of positively charged fluid & thus flowed from positive to negative. Some physicists still insist this is so, despite contrary proofs before & after the dawn of the 20th Century.

Most of the theoretical body of 'knowledge' that is available for all is based on mistaken assumptions from a time long before today's analytical tools became available. Formulae & equations work for most undemanding applications. This is because they were developed to fit the observed phenomena & those assumptions. It is akin to doctors believing in blood letting to cure diseases.

This vast store of misinformation is perpetuated by the establishment. Tutors & lecturers stick with it because to do otherwise may cost them their livelyhoods. Cutting edge research is frequently held up & costs increased because of this. If we are ever to break with our past & move forward we must get it right. In the middle ages a conservative & powerful church held back human development.

We are less likely to be burnt at the stake these days for speaking against convention. But those who do may be ostracised from the physics community for their views. It is difficult to estimate how much this head in the sand attitude has held us back.

The human spirit evolved by questing for new knowledge & exploring the unknown. If we are ever to explore space we must first get a truer picture of how the universe works.

It is still taught that electric current causes a rotating magnetic field. It was known in 1898 that the reverse is the case. The following quote is part of a preface, by Malcolm Davidson, to Ivor's book 'Electromagnetics 1'.

< With Ivor's good counsel and the help and support of David Walton, I began to uncover a treasure trove of knowledge. My first so-called discovery was in an engineering library at Marconi Elliott Avionics, where I found a book by J.A. Fleming from 1898. On page 80 he states;

"It is important that the student should bear in mind that, although we are accustomed to speak of the current as flowing in the wire in one direction or the other, this is a mere form of words. What we call the current in the wire is, to a very large extent, a process going on in the space or material outside the wire." >

A further quote from the same preface.

< Those of you who feel that many of the ideas in this book are not mainstream should find a copy of "Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineers" by Donald G. Fink and H. Wayne Beaty. In all editions up to and including 12 (published in 1987), there is a section entitled "Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Phenomena".

This seminal work gives a clear and unambiguous description of the role that conventional electric current plays in energy flow.

"The usually accepted view that the conductor current produces the magnetic field surrounding it must be displaced by the more appropriate one that the electromagnetic field surrounding the conductor produces, through a small drain on the energy supply, the current in the conductor.

Although the value of the latter may be used in computing the transmitted energy, one should clearly recognize that physically this current produces only a loss and in no way has a direct part in the phenomenon of power transmission."

It should be noted that the 13th edition has deleted this entry, as this excellent description has been replaced by more "up to date material"! As engineers, academics and scientists, are we interested in truth, or do we just pay lip service to it, justifying our actions as not wanting to rock the boat? >

There we have it, it has been know since the late 1800s that electricity is transmitted by electromagnetic waves. The wire acts merely as a guide, in the process absorbing some energy from the wave in resistance losses. This knowledge has effectively been suppressed since 1987.

It is still taught that the magnetic field is merely a byproduct of the current. In reality it is the other way round, the current we are able to measure is a predictable artifact of the magnetic phenomena. Once we are able to make the intellectual leap in accepting this it all starts to fall into place.

A Form of Words

On various pages of this site, including this one, we refer to current flow, capacitors being charged etc. This is merely a convenient form of words, based on the habits of over two centuries. It does not mean we accede to the dualist or particle theories. Nor do we accept quantum mechanics, the uncertainty principle & all their ramifications.

Until we get our house in order, a new form of language, in keeping with reality, will not fully evolve. So, for the present, we are stuck with the arcane way of describing things. Together with the arcane theology called 'modern physics'.

More past errors & current nonsense

Electrical current is always a flow of electrons, from negative to positive. In a conductor they do not actually flow directly through, an electron arrives at an atom & joins its outer valency ring. In doing so one already there is displaced. Attracted towards the positive terminal it encounters another atom, displacing a further electron & so on. In a vacuum it is a true electron flow.

In the early days of electrical experimentation it was assumed that current flowed from positive to negative. In other words, that the moving particles were positive charges. This mistake persisted until Dr. A.J. Fleming's invention of the thermionic valve in 1904. His original diode proved beyond doubt that the travelling electrons are negative & flow from negative to positive.

Despite this many physicists, even today, insist that true current flows from positive to negative. Pigheadedly perpetuating a 200 year old mistake, despite a 1 hundred year old proof to the contrary. Books are still published showing 'conventional' current flowing from positive to negative whilst electrons flow the other way.

What a nonsense! When I was at school, in a 'science' class we were shown a so called educational film. This featured, in cartoon form, current flowing one way, whilst electrons went the other. I remember thinking at the time, 'this is rubbish, the opposite charges will collide & cancel out'. This is something they are still trying to push.

Millions of pounds are spent every on research into positrons (anti-electrons) and anti-protons. Atoms are bombarded in cyclotrons & other mega-expensive machines. Whatever the potential uses for these exotic particles they do not contribute to current flow. They can only be isolated in high energy environments.

A lot of time & money is spent studying the theory of 'anti-matter'. This has atoms with a negative nucleus & orbiting positive charges. It will be handy to provide the astronomical energy requirements for interstellar space travel, along with warp drive & matter transporters.

It certainly can't exist in the same place as normal matter, otherwise the two would cancel. Unleashing a force sufficient to make an atom bomb seem like a firework. So we are not likely to be able to mine it on any planet where we can survive.

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