Italian Alessandro Volta is a physicist and chemist, a pioneer in the field of electricity, the discoverer of methane. This remarkable scientist was idolized by his students at the University of Pavia.
Childhood
The fourth child was born in the patriarchal family of Padre (father) Filippo Volta and his wife Maddalena, daughter of Count Inzago, whom he married secretly. He was christened as Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio. It was February 18, 1745 in the ancient city of Como in picturesque Lombardy. For the parents, this was not a significant event, and they quickly gave the baby to the village nurse, simply forgetting about little Sandrino. The kid grew up freely in the village of Brunate for about three years. Physically strong, he althy, lively, he spoke very badly, because no one taught him. No one could have imagined that the pride of Italy would grow out of the baby - Alessandro Volta - a physicist who will advance the science of electricity.
When the boy was seven years old, his father died, and the child was taken to his house by his own uncle, a canon. He was a man of science and took seriously the upbringing of the child. A lively and inquisitive boy quickly spoke, began to learn Latin, history, arithmetic, rulesbehavior. He did everything with ease and without stress. Alessandro was very interested in art, especially music. He turned into a sociable and witty teenager. Alessandro was struck by the news of the earthquake in Lisbon, and he was determined to unravel the mystery of such disasters. His irrepressible curiosity almost led to his death. Once he was looking at the "golden sheen" at the bottom in a deep way, accidentally fell into the water and nearly drowned. Later it turned out that pieces of mica sparkled under the water in the sun.
Youth
The house of the uncle, who foresaw the lively mind of his pupil, was filled with scientific books. Young Volta, a physicist by vocation, studied, visiting the house of his nurse, to make barometers and thermometers (from her husband). The ability to work with his hands will come in handy later in the manufacture of electrical appliances. Then his uncle gave him at the age of 12 to teach philosophy to Jesuit monks. Soon, the uncle noticed that they wanted to prepare his nephew for the tonsure, and took him away.
Explosion in Science
The return of Halley's comet, as predicted by the English scientist, attracted Alessandro to the work of another English genius - Newton. The young man begins to clearly realize his vocation - the natural sciences: he studies the theory of gravity, tries to explain electricity. So the physicist gradually grows up in the young Volta. Having learned that in 1752 B. Franklin discovered a device that we call a lightning rod (which is not entirely accurate), the young man in 1768, striking the imagination of all the townspeople, installs it on his roof.
Work
Volta has been working since the age of 29at the Royal Gymnasium of Como. A year later, he improved the device that creates static electricity - electrophorus. He then studies the chemistry of gases and succeeds in isolating methane. It took two years. With him, he developed an experiment - igniting methane with an electric spark in a closed vessel. Volta studied what we now call electric capacitance, and also developed tools for studying electric potential (V), charge (Q) and found that for a given object they are proportional. Volta made these discoveries in physics while working in Como.
After five years, he is invited as a professor at the University of Pavia. Here he organized the Department of Experimental Physics. Volta worked on it for forty years, heading it. The physicist created one of the first versions of the electric battery based on the theory put forward by Luigi Galvani.
Galvani experimented with a frog. Her leg served as the electrolyte. Volta realized this, replaced the frog's leg with brine-soaked paper, and discovered the flow of electricity. Then he created a device - a prototype of an electric battery. It was called "voltaic column" and consisted of two electrodes.
One was zinc, the other was copper. The electrolyte was sulfuric or hydrochloric acid mixed with water. His battery produced a steady electrical current.
Recognition
Currently, the unit of electrical voltage is named after him. It sounds like a volt.
A lunar crater in1964.
Italian physicist Volta in 1809 became a member of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands. Napoleon was interested in his work.
For his work in the field of physics, he honored Alessandro Volta with the title of count in 1801. Napoleon created the Volta Prize. It was awarded in the 19th century by the French Academy of Sciences for scientific achievements in the field of electric power industry.
His family life was also successful. Alessandro married in 1794 the aristocrat Teresa Peregrini and raised three children with her: Zanino, Flaminio and Luigi.
The physicist retired in 1819 and retired to his estate Kamnago. In it, he died at the age of 83 in 1827. He is buried on his estate. This can put an end to the biography of the physicist Volta. His biography is finished, but has remained for centuries. It can only be added that he was a deeply religious person. As he once said himself: “By the special mercy of God, I never wavered in faith. The gospel can only bear good fruit.”
