Count Alessandro Volta

He married Teresa Peregrini, the daughter of Count Ludovico Peregrini, in 1794 and the couple had three sons.

He passed away on his estate in Camnago, Italy at the age of 82. His remains were interred there and to honor this genius, the place was renamed as “Camnago Volta”.

As a tribute to Count Alessandro Volta, the Volta Prize is awarded to anyone with scientific achievement in electricity.

Volta was born in Como; his parents, Filippo Volta and Maria Maddalena Inzaghi, belonged to middleclass background.

As a child, he did not display much intelligence and did not start speaking until he was 4 years old. By the time he turned seven, he not only reached at par with other children but also overtook them in astuteness.

He received his early education at the Royal Seminary in Como. His parents wanted him to take up law or priesthood as a career but he had already made up his mind to pursue chemistry and physics.

Volta began his career in the field of physics, in 1774 by teaching the subject, at the Royal School of Como. During the year, he studied atmospheric electricity and conducted experiments in fields of electrochemistry, electromagnetism and electrophysiology.

He pioneered the electrophorus in 1775, a device that produced static electric charge. This was a device that could be charged with electricity only by rubbing and this charge could be transferred to other objects.

Between 1776 and 1778, Volta worked in the realm of gases and discovered methane gas in natural environment, which he was able to isolate by the end of this period.

In 1800, he invented voltaic pile—the first electric battery. This battery was actually a pile of alternating discs of copper and zinc, separated by pieces of cardboard soaked in brine that had the ability to maintain steady electric current.

He also developed the ‘Law of Capacitance’ and theorized the ‘law of bimetallic contact’.

One of the major published works of this ingenious scientist was ‘De vi attractiva ignis electrici’ (1769); it was based on his extensive research on attractive force present in the electric fire.