there is a mathematical relationship between the heat produced, the magnitude of the current, and the resistance of the wire through which it flows. Joule was convinced this was an important discovery, deserving of a wider audience than the readers of the Annals, so he sent a paper describing it to Britain’s most prestigious scientific publication, The Transactions of the Royal Society. Though the equation Joule derived is now taught as part of high school physics and is the basis of every electric toaster, the editor rejected it, allowing only a brief summary to be printed in a lowlier sister
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