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Experiment with Natural Electricity

1768
Jean Charles Baquoy (French, 1721–1777) After a drawing by Jean Michel Moreau le Jeune (French, 1741–1814)
The astronomer Jean-Baptiste Chappe d'Auteroche visited Tobolsk, Siberia, in 1761 to observe the transit of the planet Venus as it passed across the face of the sun. While in Tobolsk, Chappe d'Auteroche conducted experiments with electricity using lightning rods positioned near his observatory. (He was undoubtedly inspired by Benjamin Franklin, whose 1751 publication Experiments and Observations on Electricity, made at Philadelphia in America was translated into French in 1752.) In contrast to the terrified soldiers-whose presence was supposed to calm the onlookers- Chappe d'Auteroche is unperturbed as he studies the flash of lightning with his sextant.

Object Details

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