Eudiometer truly pioneered by Count Alessandro Volta (1745–1827), an Italian physicist who is well known for his contributions to the electric battery and electricity. Aside from its laboratory function, the eudiometer is also known for its part in the "Volta pistol". Volta invented this instrument in 1777 for the purpose of testing the "goodness" of air, analyzing the flammability of gases, or to demonstrate the chemical effects of electricity. Volta's Pistol had a long glass tube that was closed at the top, like a eudiometer. Two electrodes were fed through the tube and produced a spark gap inside the tube. Volta's
Thermoelectric effect heat that is generated whenever a current is passed through a resistive material, is related, though it is not generally termed a thermoelectric effect. The Peltier–Seebeck and Thomson effects are thermodynamically reversible, whereas Joule heating is not. The Seebeck effect is the conversion of heat directly into electricity at the junction of different types of wire. Originally discovered in 1794 by Italian scientist Alessandro Volta, it is named after the Baltic German physicist Thomas Johann Seebeck, who in 1821 independently rediscovered it. It was observed that a compass needle would be deflected by a closed loop formed by two different