Electric battery common fuels such as gasoline. In automobiles, this is somewhat offset by the higher efficiency of electric motors in converting chemical energy to mechanical work, compared to combustion engines. The usage of "battery" to describe a group of electrical devices dates to Benjamin Franklin, who in 1748 described multiple Leyden jars by analogy to a battery of cannon (Benjamin Franklin borrowed the term "battery" from the military, which refers to weapons functioning together). Italian physicist Alessandro Volta built and described the first electrochemical battery, the voltaic pile, in 1800. This was a stack of copper and zinc plates, separated by
Edison Volta Prize boson in July 2012". Edison Volta Prize The Edison Volta Prize is awarded biannually by the European Physical Society (EPS) to individuals or groups of up to three people in recognition of outstanding achievements in physics. The award consists of a diploma, a medal, and 10,000 euros in prize money. The award has been established in 2012 by the Centro di Cultura Scientifica "Alessandro Volta", Edison S.p.A and the European Physical Society. 2016 - The 2016 EPS Edison Volta Prize as been awarded to for "seminal contributions to optical science, to the field of single-molecule spectroscopy and imaging (first single