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Amber and electricity

Do you like amber? Yeah, who doesn’t!

That gem made of fossil plant resin is awesome. And it was appreciated since ancient times for its vivid colours and brilliance. In fact, it has been used for millennia to produce a variety of jewels, furnishings, and decorative objects.

And did you know that electricity was actually named after the amber?

Let’s take a step back to 6th century BC, in Greece.

Thales of Miletus, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer whose echo is still alive today, is playing with a small “stone” of amber. Suddenly, he discovered that the gem, if rubbed, begins to attract some small objects, such as specks and hair, as well as producing sparks when rubbed with another material such as woollen cloth.

The good ol’ Thales (or whoever instead of him, difficult to discern myth from reality after all these centuries) then called this phenomenon élektron, precisely the name of amber in ancient Greek. Hence the name of electricity.

Inox Bim, among its gems, also has an excellent choice of electric range cookers!

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