[Remembering Luigi Galvani on the bicentennial of his death].
A short outline of the evolution of electrology throughout the XVIII century is presented. Emphasis is done on the topic of so-called animal electricity, whose study mainly developed due to the initial research of the Bolognese professor Luigi Galvani. In 1791, he made known his experimental results, submitting them to the criticism of contemporaneous scientists, Galvani and his pupils thought that the electrical phenomena observed in frogs were due to the electricity inherent to these animals (animal electricity), while their opponents, such as the physicist Alessandro Volta, attributed them to the action of the metallic conductors utilized (contact electricity). They were wrong to admit an unique type of electricity, because both types exist. Galvani's investigations encouraged Volta's research, which gave rise to the invention of the electric battery and its uses. Moreover Galvani's studies opened the immense and rich field of electrophysiology.
de Micheli-Serra
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Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chavez, Departamento de Farmacología, México, D.F.
D000818:Animals; D004560:Electricity / Q000266:history; D004594:Electrophysiology / Q000266:history*; D049671:History, 18th Century; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy
Recordando a Luigi Galvani en el bicentenario de su muerte.