William Gilbert (physicist)
English physician, physicist and natural philosopher (1544-1603)
William Gilbert (; 24 May 1544? – 30 November 1603), also known as Gilberd, was an English physician, physicist and natural philosopher. He passionately rejected both the prevailing Aristotelian philosophy and the Scholastic method of university teaching. He is remembered today largely for his book De Magnete (1600).
A unit of magnetomotive force, also known as magnetic potential, was named the Gilbert in his honour; it has now been superseded by the Ampere-turn.
Life and work
Gilbert was born in Colchester to Jerome Gilberd, a borough recorder. He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge. After gaining his MD from Cambridge in 1569, and a short spell as bursar of St John's College, he left to practice medicine in London, and he travelled on the continent. In 1573, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. In 1600, he was elected President of the college.
The public source identifies “William Gilbert (physicist)” as english physician, physicist and natural philosopher (1544-1603). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around William, Gilbert and physicist.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q192706. VIAF identifies the subject as 203121438. The Library of Congress control number is n84804174. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1544, 1603, 1600 and 1569.
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This entry incorporates text from “William Gilbert (physicist)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.