Luigi Galvani
Luigi Galvani, 1737-1798, Italian physician
and physicist.
Galvani's great interest was "animal electricity," which he
studied in his post as a teacher of medicine in Bologna. In 1780, he constructed a
crude electric cell with two different metals and the natural
fluids from a dissected frog.
In another experiment he applied current to the nerves of a frog
and observed the contractions of the muscles in their legs. This
led to widespread speculation on the relationship of biology, chemistry, and electricity, and perhaps
encouraged speculation on medical electricity, such as George Adams and Benjamin Franklin were exploring. His
theoretical foundation was later corrected by Alessandro Volta. For a contemporary account,
consult William Nicholson's entry
in The British Encyclopedia (1809).
- Contexts:
- Illustrations:
- People:
