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Alessandro Volta
Physicist

Alessandro Volta

Famoose for

Inventing the voltaic pile, an early electric battery.

Methane · Voltaic pile

Born
18 February 1745
Birthplace
Como
Died
5 March 1827

More people

Marie CurieDiscovering polonium and radium.Albert EinsteinDeveloping the theory of relativity.Charles DarwinExplaining evolution through natural selection.

Alessandro Volta

Alessandro Volta was an Italian physicist whose experiments established a practical source of continuous electric current.

Early life

Origins

Grew up in Como in a family of noble background.

Career

  1. 1774

    Como

    Became a physics professor at the Royal School.

  2. 1779

    Pavia

    Took the chair of experimental physics.

  3. 1800

    Battery announcement

    Reported the voltaic pile to the Royal Society.

Contributions

Methane

Identified and investigated the flammable gas.

Voltaic pile

Used different metals and an electrolyte to generate current.

Beyond research

Family

Married Teresa Peregrini in 1794 and raised three sons.

Sources & photo creditBiography and career ↗Biographical references ↗

Original photograph. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.

Photo: Artistic portrait; Creator not stated; see image source. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.