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Birth of the Battery Maker.
Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta was born in Como, Northern Italy in 1745. His parents were Filippo and Maddalena. His family were not rich. He was educated locally. Volta did not talk until he was 4 years old. -
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aleesandro volta
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Book on electricity
Alessandro decided to become a physicist by the time he turned 14. In 1976 he started to study electricity. He published two books of his ideas. -
Director of the Royal School in Como.
In 1774, he was appointed as Directorof the Royal School in Como. -
Professor of Physics.
Alessandro Volta became the professor of physics at the Royal School in Como. While at the Royal School, Alessandro Volta designed and promoted the electrophorus, a device that produced static electricity. -
Discovering Methane and Capacitance.
In 1776 Volta observed "swamp gas" which was used to light laterns. He was the first person to isolate methane from this swamp gas. In 1776-1777, Volta studied the chemistry of gases, and devised experiments such as the ignition of gases by an electric spark in a closed vessel of his own design, called a eudiometer. Volta also studied what we now call electrical capacitance, developing separate means to study both electrical potential (V) and charge (Q). -
Professor of Physics at Pavia.
Volta was appointed Professor of Physics at the University of Pavia. He held this position of more than 40 years. -
Animal Elcctricity
Around 1797 he began to study "animal electricity". In this way he discovered Volta's Law of the electrochemical series, and the law that the electromotive force (emf ) of a galvanic cell. -
The First Battery.
In 1800, Alessandro Volta of Italy built the voltaic pile and discovered the first practical method of generating electricity. Count Volta also made discoveries in electrostatics, meteorology and pneumatics. His most famous invention, however, is the first battery. -
last years
During the last years of his life he demonstrated none of the intense creativity that had characterized his earlier researches, and he published nothing of scientific significance during these later years. He continued, at the urging of Napoleon, to teach at the University of Pavia and eventually became director of the philosophy faculty there. In 1819 he retired to his family home near Como. -
Death of the Battery Maker.
Just before Alessandro died in 1827, he realised he would be a big success with the battery. He died in his country home in Italy, in Camnago. Alessandro lived a happy and successful life. He has proudly made lives better and is a hero to many! The term "volt" is based on his name and is how most people remember him. This temple is named after him.
