Abstract
AT the meeting of the Physical Society, a few weeks ago, when the subject of Contact Electricity was under discussion, the President was asked by his friendly opponents to commit himself to a definite interpretation of the fundamental equation, and to a precise statement as to what quantity he recognised as “contact potential difference.” Prof Lodge did not then comply with the request, but he promised to address the Society upon “Contact Electricity” at their annual general meeting on February 9. It is rather a matter for regret that this ancient feud is so near to amicable settlement. The controversy has held its own for a little more than a century, and throughout that time it has acted as a never-failing stimulus to research in the laboratory. Physicists are now retracing the steps of their arguments, revising their definitions, amending their phrases, and trying hard to understand one another's parlance. No scientific dispute can outlive such precautions.
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Contact Electricity . Nature 61, 332 (1900). https://doi.org/10.1038/061332a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/061332a0