Keywords: Gilberts versorium needle electroscope.png Drawing of the 'versorium' the first electrical measuring instrument a crude electroscope invented in 1600 by British scientist William Gilbert It was a simple pivoted metal needle like a compass but unmagnetized The needle would be attracted to charged bodies Downloaded from http //books google com/books id A7oXAAAAIAAJ pg PA16 Sylvanus Phillips Thompson 1902 Elementary Lessons in Electricity and Magnetism MacMillan Co London p 16 fig 11 on Google Books 1902 Sylvanus Phillips Thompson Public domain - Thompson died in 1916 PD-old Electrostatics Electroscopes History of physics William Gilbert |