Volta, Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio
Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (1745-1827), an Italian physicist, is known for his pioneering work in electricity. He investigated the "animal electricity" of Galvani, and found that the current was generated from the contact of dissimilar metals, and that the frog leg was only acting as a detector. Using this information, he constructed the first battery to produce electricity (1800). Volta's method of stacking round plates of copper and zinc separated by disks of cardboard moistened with salt solution was called a Voltaic pile. In honor of his work in the field of electricity, Napoleon made him a count in 1801. The electrical unit known as the volt was named in his honor.