Coulomb's Law
First experimental replication
In 1785, Charles Coulomb did an experiment showing that the force of repulsion between electrified bodies is an inverse-square law, similar to Newton’s law of gravity. It became one of the most famous experiments in the history of physics.
But strangely, for two hundred years, physicists failed to reproduce Coulomb’s results. In 1992, Peter Heering argued that no physicist ever reported results similar to Coulomb’s. So Heering too did the experiment, but he got negative results, apparently showing that Coulomb’s numbers were partly fictitious.
However, in 2005, at Caltech, I successfully replicated Coulomb’s experiment. I painstakingly reproduced his procedures and results. It proved that his numbers were true, not socially constructed.
“Replication of Coulomb’s Torsion Balance Experiment”
Archive for History of the Exact Sciences 60 (2006), 517-563.
“Coulomb’s Impossible Experiment”
in Science Secrets: The Truth about Darwin’s Finches, Einstein’s Wife, and Other Myths (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011), 128-146.
“Experiments and Experiences in Mentorship”
Looking Back as We Move Forward: The Past, Present, and Future of the History of Science: Liber Amicorum for Jed Z. Buchwald on his 70th Birthday (New York City: INK, Inc., 2019), pp. 213-18.
“Very ‘Easy’ Electrical Experiments,” Conference in Honor of Jed Buchwald, California Institute of Technology, April 26, 2019. https://youtu.be/yV8bHfuIY4Q
REVIEWS
"Martínez shows that it’s possible to construct a fully consistent system of arithmetic in which minus times minus makes minus. It’s a wonderful vindication...”
JAKE RANDELL
AMERICAN SCIENTIST
"Martínez can certainly take credit for having produced by far the best and most detailed account of this important strand in Einstein's early work.”
JÜRGEN RENN
MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE
“An essential text for any future reserarch on Bruno, Galileo and The Inquisition. ...possibly the most important book of the year for the history of astronomy.”
CLIFFORD CUNNINGHAM
ASTRONOMICAL HISTORY
BOOKS
BIO
Alberto Martinez is originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico. As a professor at UT Austin, he investigates the history of science, especially Einstein and relativity theory, history of math, historical myths, and Giordano Bruno and Galileo. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
He also researches myths in political news media, The Eyes of Texas, and episodes in the history of money and corruption.
Now, he's finishing writing a novel about Albert Einstein.