THE

PIONEERS
OF
ELECTRONICS

Name: Class: Teacher:

Yusri Alam 7.DATA Mr Heffernan

Alessandro Volta - Inventor Of Battery:
Alessandro Volta is an Italian physicist born who invented the Voltaic Pile where he unveiled it
on March 20, 1800. His invention worked when there was a wire connected at both ends and
when there was a stack of alternating silver and zinc wafers, a current acted like a prod. Today
the Voltaic pile has now been improved and modernised and therefore now known as 'the
battery'. The invention of the voltaic pile has led to many electronic devices being reliant on
power and these include, phones, laptops, cars, watches, thermometers, etc. Batteries are used for
different purposes whether it's entertainment (tv’s) or medical uses (eg. hearing aids).

(Photo Of Alessandro Volta - Source: Encyclopedia Britannica - Left)

(Photo of Alesssandro’s Voltaic Pile - Source: Royal Institution - Right)

Andre-Marie Ampere - Founder of Ampere's law:
Andre-Marie Ampere is a French physicist who founded the science of electrodynamics and is
known for his name 'ampere' , the unit for measuring electric current. Ampere found Ampere's
law after he discovered in 1820 that if an electric current flows in the same direction in 2 nearby
parallel wires, the wires attract each other and electric currents flow in the opposite direction
therefore leading to the wires reflecting each other. Ampere's law allows us to combine the gap
between electricity & magnetism and is useful in the manufacturing of generators, motors, etc.

(Photo of Andre-Marie Ampere - Source: Science Photo Library)

(Photo demonstrating example of Ampere’s law)

Michael Faraday - Inventor of Electric Generator:

Michael Faraday, an English scientist, invented mechanical motion using a magnet and electric
current in 1821. In 1831, the magnetic force was converted into electrical force, leading to the
invention of the first electrical generator. Faraday's law of induction, which estimates the
interaction between a magnetic field and an electric circuit, is crucial for the development of
solenoids, inductors, and electric motors. This discovery has led to the development of wireless
energy transfer and the widespread use of electric generators in various settings.

(Faraday’s Disk - Source: Shiv Dial Sud And Sons - Right)

(Picture of Michael Faraday - Source: Encyclopedia Britannica - Left)

Georg Simon Ohm - Founder of Ohm’s Law:

George Simon Ohm is a German physicist known for his discovery of Ohm's Law. He received a
job offer to instruct at a school in Cologne as a result of the favourable response to the geometry
text. The physics lab there gave Ohm the room and tools he needed to do research on electricity
and magnetism, phenomena that were widely studied in the early 1820s as a result of Hans
Christian discovery that the two were connected. Ohm's law is used to apply the correct amount
of charge given the resistance in EVERY ELECTRICAL DEVICE.

(Triangular Diagram of Ohm’s Law - Source: JADE Learning - Right)

(Picture of George Simon Ohm - Source: Rincon Educativo - Left)

Heinrich Hertz - Discoverer of electromagnetic waves:

Heinrich Hertz, a German physicist, made the first discovery of electromagnetic waves in the late
1800s. He built an oscillator using brass knobs connected to high voltage induction coils,
separated by a distance. He also developed a receiver for detecting radiation using copper wire
with a brass knob. Electromagnetic waves have various applications, including wireless signals,
ultraviolet light, X-rays, gamma rays, and radio waves. Without Hertz's discovery, people would
not have access to music or UV or X-rays.

(Photo of Heinrich Hertz - Source: Wikipedia - Left)

( (Hertz apparatus for detecting radio waves with spark-gap transmitter &
d dipole antenna with a spark gap - Source: Wikipedia - Right)

Guglielmo Marconi - Inventor of Wireless telegraphy, magnetic detector:

The Wireless Telegraph and Signal Co. was founded in 1897, revolutionising warfare, money
transmission, and newspaper business. The magnetic detector, with a soft-iron band moving
clockwise 8 cm per second, was used to detect metals and treasures. The tube had a primary
winding and a secondary winding connected to headphones, causing clicks when a signal was
received. The tube carried a primary winding attached to the aerial circuit and also a secondary
winding that was connected to the headphones.When a signal was received it affected the
magnetism therefore creating clicks that could be heard. The technology is still in use today,
helping the military locate landmines and other valuable items.

(Photo of Guglielmo Marconi - Source: History Channel - Left)

(1st Magnetic Detector - Source: Google Arts & Culture - Right)

Thomas Alva Edison - Inventor of lightbulb:

Thomas Alva Edison is an American inventor who in June 1869, his 1st invention was the
electric vote recorder in which he received a patent for. In February 1877 he worked on a
telephone transmitter that drastically improved the telephone so in 1878 he established The
Edison Speaking Phonograph Company. In 1879, Edison had to solve the problem of gas burners
which were being consumed by preventing it from being overheated. By fashioning a
microtasimeter-like device to control the current, Edison invented the lightbulb. The invention of
the phonograph led to the massive development of music but is minimal compared to the effect
of the incandescent lightbulb. Everyone is dependent on the lightbulb to produce light in order to
see in the dark or in some cases help people live.

(First lightbulb - Source: National Park Service - Right)

(Picture of Thomas Alva Edison sitting - Source: Wikipedia - Left)

Lee de Forest - Inventor of audion:

Lee de Forest is an American inventor who invented a device responsible for the practicality of
wireless radio broadcasting and this invention is the 'audion' amplifier. By adding a third
electrode, Lee de Forest invented the triode or 'audion' tube and it could amend and amplify and
it also had a certain amount of control. The triode led to the use of commercial radio and led to
de Forest being titled the 'Father of Radio'. It could also be used as an oscillator and an amplifier
in electric circuits. Without the triode, circuits would be in bad use and radio that we hear from
our cars would be non-existent. (Lee De Forest holding 1st triode - Source: The Hindu -
Middle-Right)

Edwin Howard Armstrong - Inventor of FM Radio, Regenerative Circuit &

Superheterodyne receiver:
When the 'positive feedback' was increased the circuit became an oscillator and could transmit its
own signal. This led to the invention of the regenerative circuit in 1914. FM radio was the idea
Armstrong was working on because of the static in AM radio. In 1918 the superheterodyne
receiver was made by applying the concept of heterodyning (mixing the signals of two different
frequencies to produce a signal of a third frequency, equal to the sum or difference of the first
two) & the function of high-frequency radio signals. Armstrong's FM Radio has changed the
world by changing how information was sent to soldiers during wars and also changed music.
Political and mass movements were done through radio and the superheterodyne receiver had
better sensitivity, frequency, stability and selectivity compared to a TRF receiver design.
(Armstrong with superheterodyne receiver - Middle-Right)

W. Shockley, J. Bardeen and W. Brattain - Inventor of Transistor:

Shockey created a physics group to replace the vacuum tube but failed. In 1945, Bardeen and
Brattain idea of an amplifier and switch based on germanium and silicon technology failed. On
December 16, 1947, Bardeen and Brattain's research led to the creation of the first successful
semiconductor amplifier. This amplifier used two gold contacts held in place by a plastic wedge
on a small slab of high-purity germanium. The invention of the transistor allowed for the
modulation of voltage and current in a semiconductor, replacing vacuum tubes, which were bulky
and delicate. The earliest transistor products include hearing aids and radio. [‘Transistor- Source:
Amazon (Top) W.Shockley,J.Barden & W.Brattain- Source: Wikimedia Commons - (Bottom)
 Pioneers In
Electricity- Timeline
1800
ALESSANDRO VOLTA
The Voltaic pile was invented in March
20, 1800 and happened because of
Galvani's discovery of the twitching of a

1820
frog which he was experimenting on.

ANDRE-MARIE AMPERE
Ampere is known for his name as the
unit of measuring current and he also
discovered Ampere's law.

1827
GEORG SIMON OHM
Ohm is the founder of Ohm's law which is
a law which states that electric current is
proportional to voltage and either way
proportional to resistance.

1831
MICHAEL FARADAY
In 1821, Faraday was successful in
creating mechanical motion by using a
magnet and an electric current. 10 years
later Farday converted this motion to
electrocity leading to the first generator

1879
THOMAS ALVA EDISON
Edison had to solve the problem of
gasburners which were being consumed
by preventing it from being overheated
and he solved it by creating what we

1888
know as the lightbulb

HEINRICH HERTZ
Various physicians tried to generate
electromagnetic waves in order to to
prove James Clerk Maxwell's theory of
electromagnetism Heinrich did it 1st and
did it by constructing an oscillator formed

1897
from brass knobs which were connected to
high voltage induction coil and separated
from other knobs by a particular distance
GUGLIELMO MARCONI so that sparks could travel.
The wireless telegraph was invented by
Marconi and it could send signals 1.5
miles away

1902
GUGLIELMO MARCONI
Marconi patented the magnetic detector
and it was one of the 1st 'practical'
devices that made radio signal able to be
heard from headphones. The magnet

1906
LEE DE FOREST
deteector had a soft-iron band that
moved clockwise 8 cm per second
through a tube & past permanent
magnets The tube carried a primary
Marconi took his apparatus to England winding attached to the aerial circuit and
where he brought it to Sir William Preece also a secondary winding that was
an engineer of chief in the post office. connected to the headphones.
This 'invention' that he created could
send wireless signal at a distance of 1.5
miles. Later that year he was allowed a

1947
patent for the first system of wireless
telegraph .
W. SHOCKLEY, J. BARDEEN AND W.
BRATTAIN
The group invented the first transistor
when Shockley created a physics group
with researched for alternatives on
semiconductor for vacuum tubes and then
Braittain and Bardeen invented the
transistor.
Bibliography:

-Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Alessandro Volta Electric Battery, (Energy & Environment), 222 Third Street, Suite 0300
Cambridge, MA 02142https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/alessandro-volta -
The Royal Institution, Alessandro Volta's voltaic pile, (The History of Science), 21 Albemarle St, London W1S 4BS,
https://www.rigb.org/explore-science/explore/collection/alessandro-voltas-voltaic-pile
-National MagLab, Georg Ohm, (Physics),
https://nationalmaglab.org/magnet-academy/history-of-electricity-magnetism/pioneers/georg-ohm
-Kevin M. Tenny; Michael Keenaghan ,National Library Of Medicine, Ohms Law, National Library of Medicine, 8600 Rockville Pike,
Bethesda, MD 20894,
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work.
-J.B Shank, Andre-Marie Ampere, (2023), June 6th, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Andre-Marie-Ampere
-"André-Marie Ampère." Famous Scientists. famous scientists.org. 1 Oct. 2015. Web. 6/19/2023,
https://www.famousscientists.org/andre-marie-ampere/
-Robert E. Conot, Matthew Josephson, Thomas Edison,(2023), April 28, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Edison
-Library of Congress, Life of Thomas Alva Edison, (Articles and Essays),
https://www.loc.gov/collections/edison-company-motion-pictures-and-sound-recordings/articles-and-essays/biography/life-of-thomas-alv
a-edison/
-Chung Chieh (Univeristy of Waterloo), Electromagnetic Waves, (Physical and Theoretical Chemistry), CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license,
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_Theoretical_Chemistry)/Quantum_Mechanics/Gen_Chem_Quantum_Theory/Electromagnetic_Waves
-Michael W. Davidson (Florida State University), Heinrich Rudolph Hertz(1857-1894), Friday, Nov 13, 2015 at 02:19 PM,
https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/timeline/people/hertz.html
-Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lee DeForest, (Computing and Telecommunications), 222 Third Street, Suite 0300 Cambridge,
MA 02142, https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/lee-deforest
-Wikipedia, Faraday's law of induction, 8 June 2023, at 03:14 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday%27s_law_of_induction
-The Nobel Prize (1909), Guglielmo Marconi - Biographical, (Physics), https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1909/marconi/lecture/
-Science Museum Group. Marconi magnetic wireless detector. 1939-26 Science Museum Group Collection Online. Accessed June 14,
2023. https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co34836/marconi-magnetic-wireless-detector-wireless-detector
-Yannis Tsividis, Columbia Magazine, Edwin Armstrong: Pioneer of the Airwaves, (2002), April 1, (Science & Technology),
https://magazine.columbia.edu/article/edwin-armstrong-pioneer-airwaves
-Manas Sen Gupta, Augustman, Five Ways Radio Changed The World, FEB 16 2022 1:00 PM, (Culture),
https://www.augustman.com/my/culture/music/five-ways-radio-changed-the-world/
-Computer History Museum, 1947: Invention of the Point-Contact Transistor, 1401 N Shoreline Blvd, Mountain View, CA 94034,
https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/invention-of-the-point-contact-transistor/
-Rahul Rao, Popular Science, The small, mighty, world-changing, transistor turns 75, DEC 4, 2022 1:00 PM EST, (Science &
Technology), https://www.popsci.com/science/transistors-changed-the-world/