Volta

Volta, ALESSANDRO, physicist, was born at Como, of a noble family, 19th February 1745, and in 1774 he was appointed professor of Natural Philosophy at Pavia, the duties of which office he discharged till 1804, when he retired to his native town to spend the rest of his days; and having been summoned to show his discoveries to Napoleon, and received medals and titles at home and abroad, he died 5th March 1827. It was he who mainly developed the theory of current electricity along purely physical lines (see ELECTRICITY); the term voltaic is justly used in many cases instead of galvanic (see GALVANI); he it was who discovered the electric decomposition of water, and invented a new electric battery, the electrophorus, and an electroscope. He also made many investigations on heat and gases. His works fill 5 vols. (1816); and there are monographs on him by Bianchi and Mochetti (1829-32), and by Volta (1875).