Scientists already had the electrophorus and the Leyden jar,
devices that produce and store
a static electrical charge.
Now, for the first time,
scientists had a continuous source
of electricity to study.
Luigi Galvani
Luigi Galvani was trying to prove
that a frog’s testicles
were in its legs
and accidentally twitched a muscle
when his steel scalpel
touched the brass hook
that held the leg in place.
Galvani interpreted this accident as an instance
of animal electric fluid
conducted by the scalpel
from the muscle to the nerve.
Volta realized that the electricity
could be created without the frog,
which he replaced with a piece of paper
soaked in brine.
Volta coined the term ‘galvanic cell’
to honor his friend Galvani
describing an electrochemical cell
in which two plates of different metals
separated by an electrolyte
produce electricity.
It didn’t just
happen
Before Luii showed Alessandro his twitching frog leg
Alessandro had already done an experiment.
He had put a coin of one metal
under his tongue
and another coin of a different metal
on top of his tongue.
When he connected the two coins with a wire
the coins tasted salty.
Remote control
Without the frog
muscles can still be made to twitch
and pistols can still be fired
from the other end of a wire.
Soon enough, performances and sports events
would be created for only remote viewers
who would be given only token control.
It didn’t just happen. Volta had experimented with static
electricity for years. In 1775 he had improved and named the electrophorus.
In 1775 and 1776 he studied methane from marshes and found that an
electric spark could ignite it.
Volta demonstrated a remotely operated pistol, using a
Leyden jar in Como to fire a pistol at the other end of a copper
wire in Milan, fifty kilometers away.
It didn’t just happen. Volta had experimented with static electricity for years. In 1775 he had improved and named the electrophorus. In 1775 and 1776 he studied methane from marshes and found that an electric spark could ignite it.
Volta demonstrated a remotely operated pistol, using a Leyden jar in Como to fire a pistol at the other end of a copper wire in Milan, fifty kilometers away.
Napoleon made Volta a count in 1810.
See also in The book of science:
You can read more about Volta and Galvani, and about how to make electric batteries: