The paper is based on a talk given to celebrate { \O}rsted's discovery of electromagnetism in 1820. It gives a brief account of { \O}rsted's life and work, before using the evidence of articles on electricity and magnetism in the Encyclopaedia Britannica to assess understanding of the connection between the two phenomena in the 20 years before { \O}rsted's discovery, and the immediate reception of it.
Categories: physics.hist-ph