Encyclopedia > Galvanism

  Article Content

Galvanism

In biology, galvanism is the contraction of a muscle that is stimulated by an electric current. The effect was named by Alessandro Volta after his contemporary, the scientist Luigi Galvani, who investigated the effect of electricity on dissected animals in the 1780s and 1790s. Galvani himself referred to the phenomenon as animal electricity, believing that he had discovered a distinct form of electricity. Volta, on the other hand, claimed that the movements were caused by contact with metals rather than by electricity.

The modern study of galvanic effects is called electrophysiology, the term galvanism being used only in historical contexts. However, people still speak of being 'galvanized into action'.

Compare: galvanization



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
Springs, New York

... is 225.9/km² (584.8/mi²). There are 3,878 housing units at an average density of 177.0/km² (458.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the town is 89.82% ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 24.7 ms