Electrical Heroes, the song

Test & Measurement World colleague Martin Rowe has written a unique song entitled "Electrical Heroes" in memory of his late father who passed away recently. The song praises electricity’s pioneers and is the only one I know of that has the names "Schweigger, Poggendorff, and Cumming" in one line. As Martin notes, we can thank these folks for our jobs…and a lot more. The lyrics are below and you can listen to Martin sing it. 

Music and lyrics by Martin Rowe
Copyright 2007

Franklin flew his kite on a Philadelphia night;
He saw that lightning was electricity.
Coulomb could tell that like charges repel
By the inverse square of their distance.
Orsted saw magnetic fields make a compass needle yield
When current passed through a nearby wire.

They were electrical, electrical, electrical heroes

Volta built a source of current and named a force,
Electromotive, of course.
Ampere put a current through a pair of wires;
They attracted and repelled.
Schweigger, Poggendorff, and Cumming, led the way in measuring current
In response to magnetic fields.

They were electrical, electrical, electrical heroes

The longer the wire, the more Ohm found that EMF would drop.
The thicker the wire, the more current passed from its source to ground.
Weber and Gauss used electricity to send messages nine thousand feet.
Wheatstone proved that Ohm was right and built a sensitive resistance bridge.

Faraday changed energy from electrical to mechanical
With motion and magnets he could generate current.
Henry made electromagnets that were stronger than any others
Through electromagnetic induction.
Thompson, Lord Kelvin, created a temperature scale.
He pushed for uniform measurement standards.

They were electrical, electrical, electrical heroes

Fourier used sines and cosines to describe any signal.
Maxwell created equations that Hertz simplified.

Volts, ohms, and amps, Henries, Coulombs, and Hertz
These are units we use every day.
So the next time you measure, remember those electrical heroes;
They helped create the job you have today!

They were electrical, electrical, electrical heroes
They were electrical, electrical, electrical heroes

“Electrical Heroes” was recorded at Melville Park Studio, Boston, MA