History of electricity and radio

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (January 2007)

[edit] Early developments in electricity

Electricity has been a subject of scientific interest since at least the seventeenth century. However it was not until the nineteenth century that research into the subject started to intensify. Notable developments in this century include the work of Georg Ohm who in 1827 quantified the relationship between the electric current and potential difference in a conductor and the work of Michael Faraday who in 1831 discovered electromagnetic induction.

However during these years the study of electricity was largely considered to be a subfield of physics and hence the domain of physicists. It was not until the late nineteenth century that universities started to offer degrees in electrical engineering. The Darmstadt University of Technology established the first chair of electrical engineering worldwide in 1882 and offered a four year study course of electrical engineering in 1883. In 1882, MIT offered the first course on electrical engineering in the United States. This course was organized by Professor Charles Cross who was head of the Physics department and who later became a founder of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (which later became the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). In 1885, the University College London founded the first chair of electrical engineering in the United Kingdom and, in 1886, the University of Missouri established the first department of electrical engineering in the United States. ^[1]

During this period, work in the area increased dramatically. In 1882, Edison switched on the world's first large-scale electrical supply network that provided 110 volts direct current to fifty-nine customers in lower Manhattan. In 1887, Nikola Tesla filed a number of patents related to a competing form of power distribution known as alternating current. In the following years a bitter rivalry between Tesla and Edison, known as the "War of Currents", took place over the preferred method of providing electricity.

[edit] Ancient times

There is some evidence that ancient Roman or Egyptian citizens used batteries to goldplate objects.

[edit] Early discoveries

Benjamin Franklin conducted experiments that show that lightning was electrical in nature, and the pointed lightning arrestors were better than round one.