Database: Flying Magnetic Boy Experiments

In the middle of the 18th century, a great many experiments involving electricity were conducted. In England, Stephen Gray demonstrated that the human body could become electrified. He suspended a young boy on silk ropes and, by generating static electricity to charge the boy's body, showed how the boy's hands took on a mysterious attractive power, allowing him to pull light objects towards him without touching them. * -- * I'd love to see the parental consent form for that. "I intend to suspend your young boy from silk ropes and then electrify him! Sign here!" -- In France, French clergyman and physicist Abbé Nollet carried out the same experiment, and discovered that if a person brought a finger close to the boy's body, a spark was produced. It was said to be an "electric fluid" that passed from one body to another.** -- ** Tell it to the judge, mate. --