The National MagLab is funded by the National Science Foundation and the State of Florida.
These demonstrations about laws and tools associated with electricity and magnetism allow you to adjust variables at and to visualize invisible forces — which makes them almost better than the real thing.
Seeing is believing. In these animations, we show you what electricity and magnetism might look like if they weren't invisible.
Learn about electricity and magnetism — and have some fun while you're at it!
How do Maglev trains work? What are comets made of? How do bugs walk on water? This section demonstrates these and other concepts related to magnetism, electricity and other areas of science.
Whether you prefer your science short & sweet or long & detailed, we spell it out for you here in easy-to-understand language.
Read fun science stories told in comic strip style.
There is beauty and art in science. Gaze on these stories of discoveries that could be featured on museum walls instead of scientific journals.
Explore these surprising, unconventional and sometimes downright strange stories about high magnetic field research.
These special science graphics explain science stories in digestible steps and include optional detours for readers wanting more background to customize your reading journey.
Get to know these pioneers who went down in history for their groundbreaking work, including scientists behind common terms such as Amp, Celsius, Kelvin, hertz and tesla.
From the world's first compass to the magnetic force microscope and beyond, explore a variety of instruments, tools and machines throughout history.
Our timeline takes you through the highlights of electricity and magnetism and across the centuries.
Take a field trip to these high magnetic field landmarks around the globe.
Albert Einstein publishes his special theory of relativity and his theory on the quantum nature of light, which he identified as both a particle and a wave. With ever new appliances, electricity begins to transform everyday life.
1900
French husband-and-wife physicists Pierre and Marie Curie produce evidence that beta rays are a form of radiation identical to cathode rays.
German physicist Max Planck introduces his radiation law, the fundamental physical constant that bears his name, and his concept of energy quanta. German physicist Max Planck introduces his radiation law, the fundamental physical constant that bears his name, and his concept of energy quanta.
1901
After thousands of experiments, American inventor Thomas Edison successfully develops the nickel-alkaline storage battery.
1902
Following reports of Guglielmo Marconi’s transmission of radio signals across the Atlantic Ocean (1901), Oliver Heaviside of Britain conjectures that an electrically conductive layer located in the upper atmosphere of the earth enables such waves to propagate over expansive distances despite the curvature of the planet. In the United States, electrical engineer Arthur Kennelly independently arrives at the same conclusion and the hypothetical atmospheric stratum comes to be referred to as the Kennelly-Heaviside layer or the ionosphere.
1903
German physicist Philipp Lenard suggests that the majority of an atom’s mass is confined to only a small portion of the atom's volume based on the results of electron scattering experiments he carried out with a Crookes tube and thin metal foils.
Willem Einthoven, a Dutch physiologist, invents a device known as the Einthoven galvanometer that allows him to produce the first electrocardiogram, a graphical record of the electrical activity of the heart.
Kristian Birkeland of Norway introduces the concept of polar magnetic storms, a form of intense, localized magnetic disturbance associated with auroras.
First successful gas turbine is built in France.
1904
Hendrik Lorentz develops a set of equations known as the Lorentz transformations in his attempt to explain the results of the Michelson-Morley experiment searching for evidence of the ether thought to pervade the atmosphere. The Dutch physicist's equations would serve as the foundation upon which Albert Einstein would build his special theory of relativity.
The International Electrotechnical Commission is founded and assumes responsibility for the standardization of nomenclature relating to electricity and magnetism.
English physicist and engineer John Ambrose Fleming harnesses the Edison effect to develop the Fleming oscillation valve, a thermionic tube with two electrodes (diode) that functioned as a signal detector and rectifier.
1905
German physicist Albert Einstein formulates his special theory of relativity and indicates that electricity and magnetism are two aspects of a single phenomenon.
French physicist Paul Langevin utilizes statistics to explain the correlation between paramagnetism and temperature.
1906
Lee De Forest, an American engineer, invents the Audion, a three-electrode thermionic tube (triode) that could detect wireless signals much better than could Fleming’s valve and which would come to play an important role in early electronic devices.
1907
French physicist Pierre-Ernest Weiss develops a mean field theory to explain the behavior of iron and other ferromagnetic materials.
1908
German physicist Hans Geiger develops an early version of the Geiger counter, a chamber specialized for counting particles of radiation. Significant improvements to the device would be made by Geiger and his student Walther Mueller in 1928.
George Hale, an American astronomer, publishes a report arguing that sunspots possess magnetic fields.
1909
Australian explorers Douglas Mawson and Edgeworth David complete the first successful journey to the south magnetic pole.
American physicist Robert Millikan performs his famous oil-drop experiment and establishes the charge of an electron with greater accuracy than ever before.
