Gilbert shows electricity to Elizabeth I. 20th-century artwork showing English physician, physicist and natural philosopher William Gilbert (1544-1603, right) demonstrating his experiments on electricity to Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603, left) and her court, including Drake and Raleigh. Gilbert is considered the father of electrical engineering. This painting by British artist Arthur Ackland Hunt (1841-1914) was presented to the Borough of Colchester (Gilbert's hometown) by the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1903 to commemorate 300 years since Gilbert's death. Artwork from Appleyard's 1939 history of the Institution.