Invention Timeline – Aloisio, or Luigi, Galvani, Italian Discoverer of Galvanism; Discovered Animal Electricity About 1790
b. September 9, 1737 and d. February 5, 1798
Italian discoverer of galvanism; discovered animal electricity about 1790. In his experiments in electricity he mistook the effect for the cause and so missed the true phenomena that two different metals immersed in a solution would create an electric current.
So bold, great actions, that are seen too near,
Look rash and foolish to unthinking eyes;
They need the past for distance to appear
In their true grandeur. Let us yet be wise,
And not too soon our neighbor’s deed malign,
For what seems coarse is often ood and fine.
—The Statue
Believe in the new age, in the better day. Be
hospitable to new thoughts, to new truths. Be alert
to use scientific methods and quick to utilize the
best gifts to civilization. Be twentieth century men.
Believe in liberty. Trust your fellow-man
—John Hopkins
1720-36—Electrical phenomena were discovered by Wheeler and Stephen Gray. They discovered that the human body is a conductor of electricity and that electricity acts at a distance.
1752—Lightning conductors were set up for the protection of buildings by Benjamin Franklin.
1826—Leopoldo Nobili demonstrated animal electricity.
1841—Du Bois-Reymond began his original experiments in animal electricity, published in 1848.
