No invention attracted and frightened humanity as much as electricity, and one of its earlier fathers, the Italian Alessandro Volta — whose invention of the electric battery in 1800 marked a turning point in the history of science and technology —  would certainly agree. 

Born in Como in 1745, Volta was a physicist with an interest in electricity, a field that was still in its infancy during the late 18th century. His groundbreaking work emerged from a debate with another Italian scientist, Luigi Galvani, who believed that animal tissue was essential for generating electricity. Volta disagreed, proposing instead that electricity could be produced by the contact of different metals.