Sir William Watson,
FRS (3 April 1715 – 10 May 1787) was a British physician and scientist who was born and died in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. His early work was in
botany
Botany, also called plant science (or plant sciences), plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "bot ...
, and he helped to introduce the work of
Carolus Linnaeus into England. He became a Fellow of the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...
in 1741 and vice president in 1772. He was knighted in 1786.
In 1746, he showed that the capacity of the
Leyden jar could be increased by coating it inside and out with lead foil. In the same year, he proposed that the two types of
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...
—vitreous and resinous—posited by
DuFay were actually a surplus (a positive charge) and a deficiency (a negative charge) of a single fluid which he called ''electrical ether'', and that the
quantity of electrical charge was conserved. He acknowledged that the same theory had been independently developed at the same time by
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a m ...
—the two men later became allies in both scientific and political matters. He also suggested that electricity is more akin to magnetism and light than to a fluid, since it passes through glass and cloth, and can be concentrated as a spark to light up flammable materials.
On 14 August 1747 he made an experiment to conduct electricity through a 6,732 foot long wire at
Shooter's Hill in London. At another experiment he made, the wire was 12,276 feet. Previous experiments in France had only tried shorter distances.
The Electric Telegraph
''The North British Review'', vol. 22 (Feb. 1855), p. 290.
See also
*The plant genus Watsonia
*The botanical journal '' Watsonia''
References
*
Biography of Watson
*"Watson, Sir William", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'' 2004–2005
Works
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, William
1715 births
1787 deaths
18th-century British botanists
18th-century English medical doctors
Fellows of the Royal Society
Knights Bachelor
Writers from London
Recipients of the Copley Medal
18th-century British physicists