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Do you remember the movie Jurassic Park, where scientists discovered the DNA of dinosaurs locked inside bits of amber? Amber is fossilized tree resin, and it played a key role in the history of our knowledge about electricity.

Since the days of the ancient Greeks, people have known that if you rubbed sticks of amber with fur, the amber could then be used to raise the hair on your head and that lightweight objects like feathers would stick to it. They had no idea why this happened, but they knew that it did happen.

The Greek word for amber is elektron. The Latin version of the word was electricus.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, an English scientist named William Gilbert began to study electricity. He used these ancient words to describe the phenomena he was investigating, including the Latin term electricus. The influence of Gilbert’s book, which was written in Latin, led to the word electricity in the English language.

Wonder isn’t a bad substitute. When it comes down to it, the phenomenon we call electricity is pretty amazing. It really does qualify as one of the great wonders of the universe.

Remember the so-called “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World,” which included the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria? If we were to make a list called “The Seven Wonders of the Universe,” I suppose it would have to include Matter, Gravity, Time, Light, Life, Pizza, and Electricity.