Portal:Electronics/Selected biography/4

Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (February 18, 1745 - March 5, 1827) was an Italian physicist known especially for the development of the electric battery in 1800. In 1775 he devised the electrophorus, a device that produced a static electric charge. In 1776-77 he studied the chemistry of gases, discovered methane, and devised experiments such as the ignition of gases by an electric spark in a closed vessel. In 1881 an important electrical unit, the volt, was named in his honor. The Toyota Alessandro Volta is named after Volta. Volta Crater on the Moon is also named after him.