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.
Scientists discover and probe x-rays and radioactivity, while inventors compete to build the first radio.
1891
Inventor Nikola Tesla, an immigrant to the United States, is granted a patent for the Tesla coil, which would play a role in the development of lighting, radio and other technologies.
1892
Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz expands and modifies James Clerk Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism to develop his own electron theory, which would in turn serve as a foundation for Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity.
1894
The speed of cathode ray emission is measured by English physicist J.J. Thomson and is found to be significantly slower than the speed of light.
1895
French physicist Pierre Curie defends his thesis on magnetism, which includes his experimental findings regarding the effect of temperature on paramagnetism and states what is now known as Curie's law.
During experiments with cathode ray tubes, German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen discovers a previously unknown form of electromagnetic radiation, the x-ray.
The first large-scale hydroelectric power plant, located in North America at Niagara Falls, begins delivering power.
1896
A German-American electrical engineer, Charles Steinmetz, applies the mathematics of complex numbers to the analysis of AC circuits.
Pieter Zeeman, a student of Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz, demonstrates that a magnetic field can split the spectral line of a light source into multiple components with different frequencies (the Zeeman effect).
French physicist Antoine-Henri Becquerel first observes natural radioactivity.
Italian-Irish inventor Guglielmo Marconi receives a patent for the radio, a device that enables the wireless transmission of electromagnetic waves.
1897
J.J. Thomson carries out several experiments that lead him to conclude that cathode rays consist of a stream of negatively charged particles much smaller than an atom, dispelling the long-held belief that the atom was indivisible.
German physicist Karl Braun invents the cathode-ray oscilloscope, a means of visibly displaying graphical representations of electromagnetic signals. The cathode ray tube that the device contains eventually evolves into other types of electronic displays, including the receiving screen of the television.
1898
German physicist Wilhelm Wien determines that the so-called “canal rays” discovered by his compatriot Eugene Goldstein in1886 are the positively charged equivalent of cathode rays.
Valdemar Poulsen, a Danish engineer, invents the telegraphone, an early magnetic recording device designed to record telephone conversations.
Ernest Rutherford, a physicist from New Zealand, determines that the rays that Becquerel discovered to be emitted from uranium (1896) are composed of two discrete forms of radiation, which he terms alpha rays and beta rays.
1899
Waldmar Jungner of Sweden develops the rechargeable nickel-cadmium battery.
