retroelectro
it produced. Sometimes, these machines produced so much high- voltage current that they fatally electrocuted onlookers. In 1745, the elegant invention of the Leyden jar was introduced, giving the world a way to actually store electricity. Before, any charge from the machines would quickly dissipate. Now that a charge could be stored, it could be studied. The field would stagnate until Benjamin Franklin’s 1752 kite experiment turned many doctors, mechanics, and natural philosophers into hobbyist electrical engineers. Newspapers around the world published detailed instructions on how to construct a kite from two cedar sticks and a silk handkerchief. There are accounts of hundreds of people successfully recreating the experiment within months of Franklin publishing it.
‘Using complex machines that spin glass and can generate thousands of volts of electricity was the best method for studying electricity.’
Franklin’s experiments resulted in the practical use of the lightning rod, which not only made people safer but also allowed both amateurs and professionals to study electricity easier when combined with large Leyden jars.
In 1800, Alessandro Volta invented the voltaic pile. This device was simple: alternating discs of two different metals, typically copper and zinc, separated by layers of cloth or paper soaked in saltwater or acid, which acted as an
Retro Electro Fun Fact: The Leyden Jar was independently invented by Pieter van Musschenbroek in Leiden, Netherlands. It could store an electrical charge in a way similar to a capacitor, with dual conductors, and a dielectric in the form of a glass jar. The jar was filled with water or brine and sometimes beer. Not at all understanding what he had made, Musschenbroek thought the electrical fluid (effluvia) was being injected and stored within the water which was later omitted altogether. Learn more about electrical effluvia in the Retro Electro article ‘Electricity or Ethereal Fire.’ (Link: https://emedia.digikey.com/view/785457150/28-29/)
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