Dai salti delle rane ai balzi della scienza

The Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745-1827) gave fundamental contributions in various areas of natural science, among which electricity figured prominently. The “voltaic” battery he invented in 1799 boosted science by opening the new unexpected domains of electrochemistry and electromagnetism. Key terms of present-day electrical science, for instance “voltage” and “photovoltaic”, recall Volta’s name and acknowledge thus the seminal importance of his achievements. The chapter tries to give an idea of all such steps as well as of the rich electrical legacy Volta left to the world and of the way it produced fruit in subsequent science, including the recent applications of the “Volta effect” in devices such as photovoltaic cells and LEDs, of increasing importance for, respectively, the renewable production and the saving of energy.