Today in Technology History
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by e-mail, click here. To read past issues click here.)March 13
Despite the early accomplishments of John Frederic Daniell in the fields of chemistry and meteorology -- many of which we discussed yesterday -- his greatest achievement was related to electricity.
In the early 1800s, anyone wishing to experiment with electricity was stymied by the unavailability of a reliable power source. Usually, electricity was obtained through the use of a primitive electric battery invented by Italian physicist Alessandro Volta in 1800. This kind of battery was known as a "voltaic pile" because it consisted simply of a stack of metal disks which, when properly arranged and treated, generated an electric current.
Unfortunately, these voltaic piles wore out quickly; after a short while, the current died. Many scientists tried to solve this problem, but to no avail. Finally, in 1836, Daniell invented a new battery that gave off a steady, lasting current.
This was no minor improvement. The "Daniell cell," as the invention was called, was the first truly practical and reliable electric battery. Without the Daniell cell, the telegraph could never have become a feasible tool for communication -- and many other nineteenth century electrical innovations would have been impossible.
Daniell was awarded a medal for his invention. This was another in a long string of honors and public recognitions that stretched back to when he was made a fellow of the prestigious Royal Society at the astoundingly young age of twenty-three. He eventually became a high-ranking official in that institution. At one of its meetings on March 13, 1845 Daniell was unexpectedly "seized with symptoms of apoplexy, and in five minutes was dead" -- just one day after his fifty-fifth birthday.
Related links:
This page has pictures of and information about Daniell.
This page gives an understandable explanation of how the Daniell cell differed from the voltaic pile that preceded it.
To get a new perspective, read this page about the history of electric batteries. The text, which describes the Daniell cell and other early batteries, comes from an 1871 book about telegraphy.
This page, which has a short bio of Daniell, also lists all of his papers that are archived at King's College in London.
Click here to read two short biographies of Daniell.
To read about Daniell's early career, check out yesterday's tech history message here.
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