Alessandro Volta Alessandro Volta Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta (; 18 February 1745 – 5 March 1827) was an Italian physicist, chemist, and a pioneer of electricity and power, who is credited as the inventor of the electric battery and the discoverer of methane. He invented the Voltaic pile in 1799, and reported the results of his experiments in 1800 in a two-part letter to the President of the Royal Society. With this invention Volta proved that electricity could be generated chemically and debunked the prevalent theory that electricity was generated solely by living beings. Volta's invention sparked a great amount of
University of Pavia that immediately preceded the Unification (1859–66). During the following centuries, through periods of both adversity and prosperity, the fame of the University of Pavia grew over the last years due to the large number of applicants. Throughout its history, the university has benefited from the presence of many learned men and distinguished scientists who wrote celebrated works and made important discoveries: mathematician Girolamo Cardano (born in Pavia, 1501–76), physicist Alessandro Volta (Pavia chair of natural philosophy 1769-1804), poet Ugo Foscolo (chair of Italian eloquence 1809-10). Three Nobel Prize winners also taught in Pavia: physician Camillo Golgi (at Pavia from 1861),