Abstract

It has been known for centuries that rubbing amber will generate an electrical charge. In Greek the word for “amber” is electron, which places the origin of the name for electricity around 600 bc. In addition to the visible impact of electrostatic forces, moving charges are recognized as having secondary effects that can be measured. As such, moving charges and the associated electric and magnetic fields, respectively, can be detected by biological organs that have a structure that accommodates the interaction. The biological detection of electric and magnetic fields is ranked as a separate sense called electroreception, sometimes also called electroception.