Alessadro Volta Timeline

1745

Alessandro is born.

Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta was born in Como, Italy on Feburary 18, 1745.

1745

1769

Volta's First Treatise.

On June 25, 1769, Alessandro Volta published his first treatise on electricity named "De Vi Attractiva Ignis Electrici, Ac Phaenomenis Inde Pendentibus" addressed to Beccarrie, a well known philospher and crimiologist.

1769

1774

Superintendent Volta.

In 1774, Alessandro became the superintendent of Como's secondary schools. The year after, he began teaching experimental physics at Como's public grammar school.

1774

1775

Volta's First Invention.

In 1775, Alessandro announced his very first invention, the electrophous. The electrophorus was a machine that could both generate and store electricity. Volta's invention was simple to construct and easy to transport making it popular amoung his fellow scientists.

1775

1776

Volta's trip to Lake Maggiore.

Volta's curiosity led him to Lake Maggiore where he heard of a strange bubbly phenomenon occuring. After performing many thorough experiments, on both marshes and sediments, Volta discovered, isolated, and identified marsh gas, now known as methane in 1776.

1776

1777

Volta's meteor sighting.

During Alessandro's slow paced trip abroad in 1777, he had lots of free time to marvel at his surroundings. Due to this he developed an obscure fascination of meterology and created a habit of jotting down meteorological observations. This led him to meet Vassalli, a physicist now known as a younger Volta. During this time, Alessandro also invented the eudiometer, a machine that precisley mixed hydrogen with oxygen, and "Volta's pistol", a machine that could launch lead balls several meters. He also sent a letter to the University of Pavia's professor, Carlo Berletti, sharing his concept of electrical signal. This idea later became the building blocks of the famous telegraph.

1777

1778

Professor Volta.

In 1778 Alessandro became the professor of physics at the University of Pavia. His students seem to have loved his teachings and idolized him as a professor. Alessandro also loved to teach and even continued teaching after he stopped his career as a scientific inventor.

1778

1796

Volta's Electrical Rivalry.

In the late 1770s Galvani, an anatomist, experimented with the thought of animal electricity. For years he studied, researched, and experimented with muscular reactions to electricity. Through many experiments he concluded that the muscle could create, and discharge an electrical current. He discovered this theory when he noticed a frog's muscle contained an electric charge. Volta took notice of this in 1791 and proceeded to challenge most of it in 1796. Volta began his own series of experiments and then suggested that the contractions depended on the metal cable Galvani used to connect the nerves and muscles in his experiments.

1798

1800

The invention of the battery

Shortly after the Galvani-Volta debate, Volta formally announced his most popular invention, the Voltaic pile (aka the first electric battery). This was the first time a machine was capable of producing a steady, continuous flow of electricity. He had made two different designs. The pile and the crown of cups. The following year he had the opportunity to demonstrate his battery before Napolean, a french military/political leader. The news traveled faster than he could have imagined. Volta soon achieved world-wide fame and began the rise of the new industrial age.

1800

1801

Volta goes back home.

At this point in time, Volta had reached the pinnacle of success. Many would think, being the determined man he is, that he'd countinue to climb even higher. That he'd want to discover all there is to find and recieve even more fame and recognition than he had already gotten, however, he in fact wanted the opposite. He instead focused back on his teachings and returned home to his wife and 3 kids in Como. Volta simply had no more to prove and as a result, he retired from his life as a scientific legend.

1801

1827

Volta's Death.

On March 5, 1827, Alessadro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta died in Como, Italy at the age of 82.

1827