John Theophilus Desaguliers (1683–1744)

Portrait of John Theophilus Desaguliers (1683–1744), mezzotint by Peter Pelham (1697–1751) after a painting by Hans Hysing (1678–1752/1753), 1752; source: Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Theophilus_Desaguliers.jpg. Public domain.

John Theophilus Desaguliers (1683–1744) was a natural philosopher who was especially interested in the properties of electricity. He was the experimental assistant of Isaac Newton (1642–1727) and became a member of the Royal Society of London in 1714. His family, who were Huguenots, had fled to England when John Desaguliers was an infant.

Portrait of John Theophilus Desaguliers (1683–1744), mezzotint, after a painting by Hans Hysing (1678–1752/1753), 1752, Peter Pelham (1697–1751); source: Wikimedia Commons, public domain.