Today, when I was walking, I met up with my old friend from college. He asked me how I was doing. It was great to see him and I was so eager to tell him about my latest invention, the electrophorus. So, I started talking to him about the electrophorus. I said it was a device based on static electricity. It consisted of a disc made of turpentine, resin, and wax which was rubbed to give it a negative charge. The top was a plate covered in tin foil and the lower piece was made by an insulated handle on to the disc. The disc induced a positive charge on the lower side of the foil. If the plate with a handle is placed over it, a positive electric charge is attracted to the lower surface, while a negative charge is repelled to the upper. The negative charge that was likewise induced on the upper surface was removed by touching it to ground the charge, leaving a positive charge on the foil. This process could then be repeated to build up a greater and greater charge. I realized from my electrostatic experiments that the quantity of charge produced is proportional to the product of its tension and the capacity of the conductor. Then, I asked him, “Do you want to come see the invention?” He said, “Of course, but who are you?” I asked, “Aren’t you Matthew Smith, the physist from college?” He said, “No, I have been an elementary school teacher since I was 19!”