1544-1603

English Geophysicist and Physician

William Gilbert earned his place in annals of science with the publication of De magnete. A landmark in the history of experimental science and widely influential, it records his pioneering researches on magnetism and electricity.

Nothing is known of Gilbert's early life other than that he was born on May 24, 1544, at Colchester in Essex, England. In 1558 he matriculated at St. John's College, Cambridge. After earning his A.B. in 1561, M.A. in 1564, and M.D. in 1569, he was elected a fellow of St. John's College. He established a successful medical practice in London in 1673 and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. He served as censor of that body (1582, 1584-87, 1589-99), treasurer (1587-94, 1597-99), consiliarium (1597-99), and elect (1596-97) before being elected president in 1600. That same year he was appointed physician to Queen Elizabeth I, serving in that same...