Electromagnetsm, isospin, spin-1/2, and the early years of quantum mechanics question

Question

An electron going around in a circular orbit produces a magnetic field because there is a varying electric field.

But the electric field of the electron itself is a spherically symmetrical field.

Surely 'rotating' such a field through ANY angle would not change the E-field at all.(it would still look the same as if it hadn't been rotated).

Why then, in the early days of quantum physics, did physicists even bother 'trying' to account for the magnetic moment of the electron, by thinking of it as being 'even possibly' due to a 'spinning' of the electron when they already knew that spinning such spherically symmetrical field represents no change in e-field at all and therfore shouldn't be able to create a magnetic field anyway?

Or does it?

If so, how is a 'rotating' spherically symmetrical field even distinguishable from a 'non-rotating' one?

Answer 1

Good question. The electric field of the electron was discovered before its magnetic moment. Therefore, the electron counts as an electric charge, and is less often considered a magnetic dipole.

In fact, however, it is both to the same degree. So if the electron is both a charge and a magnetic dipole, then any consideration of whether something is rotating or not is not needed to explain the magnetic field.