Kirchhoff on the Motion of Electricity in Conductors
Peter Graneau
Andre K. T. Assis
Keywords: Kirchhoff''s paper of 1857, laws of Newtonian electrodynamics, before Maxwell
We comment on and translate Gustav Kirchhoff?s important paper of 1857 entitled ?On the motion of electricity in conductors.? The significance of this paper is that Kirchhoff proved with action at a distance that electric disturbances travel along wires of negligible resistance with the velocity of light. He accomplished this with the laws of Newtonian electrodynamics (Coulomb, Ampere, F. Neumann and Weber) before Maxwell had formulated his equations.
