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Ancient
According to Thales of Miletus, writing at around 600 BC, a form of electricity was known to the Ancient Greeks who found that rubbing fur on various substances, such as amber, would cause a particular attraction between the two. The Greeks noted that the amber buttons could attract light objects such as hair and that if they rubbed the amber for long enough they could even get a spark to jump.

An object found in Iraq in 1938, dated to about 250 BC and called the Baghdad Battery, resembles a galvanic cell and is believed by some to have been used for electroplating.

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Modern

Leyden jars, Museum Boerhaave, Leiden [3]Italian physician Girolamo Cardano returned to the subject of electricity in De Subtilitate (1550)[1], distinguishing, perhaps for the first time, between electrical and magnetic forces. In 1600 the English scientist William Gilbert, in De Magnete, expanded on Cardano's work and coined the modern Latin word electricus from ηλεκτρον (elektron), the Greek word for "amber", which soon gave rise to the English words electric and electricity.

He was followed in 1660 by Otto von Guericke, who invented an early electrostatic generator. Hiraga Gennai developed the elekiter in Japan in the mid 18th century. Other pioneers were Robert Boyle, who in 1675 stated that electric attraction and repulsion can act across a vacuum; Stephen Gray, who in 1729 classified materials as conductors and insulators; and C. F. Du Fay, who first identified the two types of electricity that would later be called positive and negative.

The Leyden jar, a type of capacitor for electrical energy in large quantities, was invented at Leiden University by Pieter van Musschenbroek in 1745. William Watson, experimenting with the Leyden jar, discovered in 1747 that a discharge of static electricity was equivalent to an electric current.

In June, 1752, Benjamin Franklin promoted his investigations of electricity and theories through the famous, though extremely dangerous, experiment of flying a kite during a thunderstorm. Following these experiments he invented a lightning rod and established the link between lightning and electricity. If Franklin did fly a kite in a storm, he did not do it the way it is often described (as it would have been dramatic but fatal). It is either Franklin (more frequently) or Ebenezer Kinnersley of Philadelphia (less frequently) who is considered as the establisher of the convention of positive and negative electricity.


Nikola TeslaFranklin's observations aided later scientists such as Michael Faraday, Luigi Galvani, Alessandro Volta, André-Marie Ampère, and Georg Simon Ohm whose work provided the basis for modern electrical technology. The work of Faraday, Volta, Ampere, and Ohm is honored by society, in that fundamental units of electrical measurement are named after them.

Volta discovered that chemical reactions could be used to create positively charged anodes and negatively charged cathodes. When a conductor was attached between these, the difference in the electrical potential (also known as voltage) drove a current between them through the conductor. The potential difference between two points is measured in units of volts in recognition of Volta's work.

In 1800 Volta constructed the first device to produce a large electric current, later known as the electric battery. Napoleon, informed of his works, summoned him in 1801 for a command performance of his experiments. He received many medals and decorations, including the Legion of Honor.

By the end of the 19th century electrical engineers had become a distinct profession, separate from physicists and inventors. They created companies that investigated, developed and perfected the techniques of electricity transmission, and gained support from governments all over the world for starting the first worldwide electrical telecommunication network, the telegraph network. Pioneers in this field included Werner von Siemens, founder of Siemens AG in 1847, and John Pender, founder of Cable & Wireless.

The late 19th and early 20th century produced such giants of electrical engineering as Nikola Tesla, inventor of the polyphase induction motor; Samuel Morse, inventor of the telegraph; Antonio Meucci, an inventor of the telephone; Thomas Edison, inventor of the first commercial electrical energy distribution network; George Westinghouse, inventor of the electric locomotive; Charles Steinmetz, theoretician of alternating current; Alexander Graham Bell, another inventor of the telephone and founder of a successful telephone business.


Thomas Alva EdisonThe rapid advance of electrical technology in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries led to commercial rivalries, such as the so-called War of the Currents between Edison's direct-current system and Westinghouse's alternating-current method. Often, concurrent research in widely scattered locations led to multiple claims to the invention of a device or system

2006-08-02 20:15:40 · answer #1 · answered by PK LAMBA 6 · 0 0

Ben Franklin is often credited as the first to discover electricity. However his claim to fame is actually being the first to discover the link between electricity and lightning. An english scientist named William Gilbert coined the phrase electricity circa 1600. As far as commercial use goes Thomas Edison was the first to create a distribution network for household use along with his invention of the light bulb. So Thomas Edison would probably be considered the father of modern electricity.

2006-07-29 20:13:11 · answer #2 · answered by Ryan C 1 · 0 0

That is not a science question but a religious one. The electro-magnetic is one of the fundamental forces of the Universe. The father of it would therefor be the Father of the Universe, who or what ever you consider that to be. By the way, all Ben Franklin did was prove that lightning was electrical.

2006-07-29 20:09:45 · answer #3 · answered by rich k 6 · 0 0

Gilbert is called the father of modern electricity.
Edison is considered the father of electricity
Michael Faraday - the Father of Electrical Engineering

2006-07-29 20:09:04 · answer #4 · answered by selvi_mks89 3 · 0 0

It goes WAY back. Batteries were found that dated 2,000 years back. ~ Edison, Westinghouse and Tesla came up with the modern idea of generating electricity in the late 1800s.

2016-03-27 06:39:27 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Ben Franklin

2006-07-29 20:05:08 · answer #6 · answered by Mariposa 7 · 0 0

Michel Faraday

2006-07-29 20:08:19 · answer #7 · answered by skahmad 4 · 0 0

Thomas Edison, or Ben Franklin
Ben discovered how to harness & Thomas discovered numerous ways in which it could be used successfully

2006-07-29 20:08:21 · answer #8 · answered by girlsm9frmgod 2 · 0 0

Edison

2006-07-29 20:05:48 · answer #9 · answered by perplexter 2 · 0 0

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