Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasia Volta

Personal History

Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasia Volta. A name that is a sentence by itself. This man, born in Como, Italy, February 18th 1745, led a life of extraordinary accomplishments and achievements. Alessandro was born into a family of nobility and many siblings. Unlike his siblings though, he did not enter the Roman Catholic Church, which was considered a disappointment to his parents. In fact, his father, Don Filippo was a member of the Society of Jesus. Alessandro’s entire family had ties with the ecclesiastic church. I find this interesting because back then in the 1700’s, if your family was heavily involved with the church, it tended to stay that way whether you liked it or not. It was extremely uncommon for a young boy with a religious family like Volta’s to almost denounce religion completely and move on to science. He was not a precocious child and did not even talk until the age of four. His parents actually believed he was mentally retarded, due to the fact he took four years to develop actions other kids had mastered two ye6ars before him. Volta’s father died when he was fourteen, but by that time Alessandro began to show signs of the prodigy he was soon to become. While his siblings and fellow classmates toyed with philosophy and religion, Alessandro decided then he would become a physicist. Volta’s education would be turned to his uncle, Alessandro, who would also watch over the young boy. A few years later he became enamored with electricity, the new technology that was rapidly changing the world. He was so fascinated with it, that he wrote several Latin poems on the subject. At the age of only 29, Volta became the professor of physics at Como high school, a coveted position by physicists 30 years older than him. His numerous inventions and discoveries propelled him to fame around the world. Just five years later, at the age of 34, Volta was appointed the Professor of Physics at the University of Pavia, a title many took their whole lives to pursue. He was also awarded the Copley Medal of the royal society, and was given membership in 1791.

Inventions and Discoveries

Following years of success, Alessandro invented the very first Electric Battery in history. He became so famous in fact, that he was invited to show Napoleon, the dominant ruler of Italy at the time, his great invention in front of many nobles. Although when first hearing his name, many often give perplexed expressions and snickers at the length his name, his achievements are actually quit known and recognized. Alessandro is credited with a number of discoveries and inventions.  He discovered the gas Methane, which is interesting in the fact that he shows his advanced comprehension of not only physics, but chemistry as well. Also, Volta designed experiments using sparks to ignite certain gases in a closed chamber.  He has numerous important works, but his most significant is his work with electrochemistry. In fact, the scientific unit measuring electricity is named after him, the volt. Volta discovered the potential V and charge Q, which are directly proportional to an object. Despite these enormous advances in electrochemistry, they pale in comparison with his greatest work. The first ever Electric Battery.  Alessandro focused specifically on dynamic electricity, the electric current. In his quest for knowledge, he proved his long time friend and fellow physicist, Galvani, wrong. Galvani had also worked with electricity and had said it came from life, not metals. But when Volta isolated to metals together, he immediately saw this was not the case. Resulting from his discoveries he constructed the Electric Battery, a device that created a large flow of electricity through metal wires. Another important invention is his electrophorus. The electrophorus had a metal plate covered in ebonite and a second plate with an insulated handle. The ebonite plate is then given a negative charge by rubbing it and the insulated piece is put on top of it. This draws the positive charges to the bottom and the negatives repelled to the top. This invention is so important that it is still used as the basis for electrical condensers today.