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  • Although we know nothing of what an atom is, yet we cannot resist forming some idea of a small particle, which represents it to the mind ... there is an immensity of facts which justify us in believing that the atoms of matter are in some way endowed or associated with electrical powers, to which they owe their most striking qualities, and amongst them their mutual chemical affinity.

    Michael Faraday (1839). “Experimental Researches in Electricity: Series 1-14 [Phil. trans., 1831-38] 1839”, p.249