Volta, Alessandro

Volta, pronounced VAHL tah or pronounced VOHL tuh, Alessandro (1745-1827), won fame as the inventor of the voltaic pile, an early type of electric battery. He made several discoveries in electrostatics, meteorology, and pneumatics. He invented an electrical device called an electrophore, a forerunner of the capacitor. The volt, a unit of electrical measurement, is named for him (see Volt). Volta was born in Como, Italy, into a noble family. In the early 1800's, the French leader Napoleon I made Volta a count. His full name was Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta. See also Battery; Electricity.

Contributor: Ronald R. Kline, Ph.D., Assistant Prof. of History of Technology, Cornell Univ.

Volta, Alessandro

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