Luigi Galvani Facts
Luigi Galvani Facts
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| Interesting Luigi Galvani Facts: |
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| Luigi Galvani was born to a middle class family in Bologna, Italy. |
| Although he originally planned to study for the priesthood, in 1755 he enter the University of Bologna and studied medicine and surgery. |
| He received his MD and a degree in philosophy in 1759 and in 1762 he became the anatomist of the university. |
| In 1776 he became an anatomy teacher at the Academy of Sciences where he used autopsies and models in his work. |
| One of his responsibilities was to present a research paper to the Academy every year for publication in the Academy's periodical. |
| In his earliest experiment in the field of electrophysiology he noticed that the legs of a dead frog would kick when an electric current was applied to the sciatic nerve. |
| He was the first researcher to understand that there is a relationship between electricity and life. |
| Alessandro Volta, a professor of experimental physics at the University of Pavia and inventor of an early battery, repeated Galvani's experiments. |
| Volta disagreed with Galvani's assessment that the electric current was intrinsic to the frog's body and built the first battery to disprove Galvani's theory. |
| In 1797 the French founded the Cisalpine Republic and required professors to swear a loyalty oath to the new government |
| Galvani refused and was stripped of his positions and all of his financial support. |
| He moved in with his brother in Bologna and died in poverty. |
| Mary Shelley mentioned Galvani's experiments as part of the background for her novel, Frankenstein. |
| Galvani's name survives in many contexts including the galvanometer and the galvanic cell. |
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