Alessandro Volta - The Lombard inventor of the electrical battery, and referred to as "the father of electricity"

Alessandro Volta

From Dylan Asadoor YouTube channel

A biography of Alessandro Volta and in his discoveries in the very first battery, which is known as the Voltaic Pile.

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Alessandro Volta

Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (18 February 1745 – 5 March 1827) was an Italian physicist credited with the invention of the first electrical battery, the Voltaic pile, which he invented in 1799 and the results of which he reported in 1800 in a two part letter to the President of the Royal Society. With this invention Volta proved that electricity could be generated chemically and debased the prevalent theory that electricity was generated solely by living beings. Volta's invention sparked a great amount of scientific excitement and led others to conduct similar experiments which eventually led to the development of the field of electrochemistry.

Born: February 18, 1745 in Como, Duchy of Milan
 
Died: March 5, 1827 in Como, Lombardy-Venetia
 
Fields: Physics and chemistry
 
Known for: Invention of the electric cell; Discovery of methane; Volt; Voltage; Voltmeter
 
Notable awards: Copley Medal (1794); Legion of Honour; Order of the Iron Crown

The SI unit of electric potential is named in his honour as the volt. 

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I can recall many years ago, my father showing me about batteries, and I specifically remember his explaining "volts"... it's ironic to me that neither of us knew that the root of the word was from Alessandro Volta, a Lombard.

It should be noted that there were batteries and electricity in the ancient world, but that knowledge was lost. Volta was the "father of electricity" within the milieu of modern science.

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