Talk:Alessandro Volta

Napoleon liked the cell..

I have read somewhere, that Napoleon liked the voltaic cell and was jolted quite strongly. He did not talk to anyone for several days. Can someone elaborate? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.254.172.249 (talk) 02:51, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

Pictures

Do we really need this many images pertaining to Alessandro Volta? This is a little rediculous... I redid some of the formatting to make the article more aesthetically pleasing. Ben Tibbetts 12:38, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Religious Beliefs

The book source (Ref 18) for the alleged specific religious views of Volta were written by a minister and Christian apologist / supremacist who writes in the introduction:

“Even if were true that modern scientists as one man stood out against Christ and the Church, this would offer no disproof of Christianity…Our Lord Jesus Christ has ranked against him, solidly and with a complete self-consciousness, the Science of the Jew. But, in spite of this, the wisdom of the scribes and their Talmudic erudition is to-day utterly disregarded; Christ was right, the Science of His day was wrong.” (Page 2-3 Introduction, Kneller, Karl Alois, Christianity and the leaders of modern science; a contribution to the history of culture in the nineteenth century)

The inclusion of Alessandro Volta in the Wikipedia is based solely on his work in Scientific discovery and this paragraph on his specific religious views are solely based on a religious book to defend Christianity from the threats of Science meets the definition of a Wikipedia Questionable source (Questionable sources are those…that have an apparent conflict of interest) and should be removed or replaced with a non-questionable source. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Markbyrn (talk • contribs) 13:27, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Information Accuracy

I just noticed that on one paragraph it says he held the chair for physics at Pavia for 25 years, then again that he held it for over 40, can someone check this? Powarj (talk) 14:12, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

We may also want to investigate [1] this. While that information does not dicredit Volta, I think it would definatly warrant a re-write. --Tulejoe (talk) 02:02, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

Just noticed in the "First Battery" section it states the electrolyte is "sulfuric acid mixed with water" - the "mixed with water" part may be redundant, since it's not sulphuric acid without it. In it's dry state it's just hydrogen sulphate, the protons don't dissociate from it unless it's in solution. May be worth replacing it with "dilute sulphuric acid" or "sulphuric acid solution" for the sake of accuracySpecial:Contributions/Callum Robertson (talk) 08:08, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

I don't think the section about the battery is entirely correct. See the article on "Lemon Battery". The hydrogen molecules should be forming at the surface of the copper, not at the surface of the zinc. Maybe the passivization reaction should actually be a result of the zinc being oxidized. I hope someone smarter than me can check into this.216.18.247.24 (talk) 13:25, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Stop redirect

Björk's new album will be called Volta and I suggest that this page should not be the automatic redirect if a user searches for Volta. Whilst I don't want to insult Alessandro Volta, I think a Björk album may be a more popular search. If you don't feel this would be the case, then the search result should at least go to the disambiguation page. Rogwan 16:24, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Agreed 100% about having a search for Volta lead to a disambiguation page. Jackcocoon 20:24, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Ah, so that's why it doesn't redirect here. I agree also, an important album is a good reason. But no redirect to the album, that's just overkill. 65.96.64.53 20:00, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Battery Section

I think that the section for the battery should be expanded. Surely there must be an individual page somewhere on the site. If not, it would be good at add a diagram explaining how the battery works. Nikitakit 02:05, 23 March 2007 (UTC) by poppy kazi

I second that. As well I am not entirely certain their electrochemistry is correct. I will look into this as it is my area of study. (Polk1986 (talk) 03:33, 12 June 2008 (UTC))

Vandalism

Does anyone have an idea why this page is vandalised so much!? Rogwan 21:51, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Volt

Shouldn't there be some mention of the electronic unit of measure for EMF being named after him? The VOLT? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sierra shadow (talk • contribs) 20:57, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

See section 'Early life and works'. Mikenorton (talk) 21:21, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

Bagdad battery

A new section on the Baghdad battery has been added. I've done some rewording, but have concerns. Not sure the "controversy" belongs in a biography and the two sources provided are a bit "fringy" and may not meet WP:RS. Vsmith (talk) 22:16, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

Battery demonstration

what did Volta use to run electricity through, to demonstrate his battery? Fred 2012 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.10.86.254 (talk) 18:49, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

I think it was his own body ;)  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 39.47.87.157 (talk) 15:54, 18 February 2015 (UTC) 

Semi-protected edit request on 18 February 2015

119.226.196.161 (talk) 04:45, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format. Edgars2007 (talk/contribs) 07:38, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 18 February 2015

Well, your own people can't decide on dates of death. Header says 7 March and the bio states 5 March. Which is it!? 70.170.87.222 (talk) 05:07, 18 February 2015 (UTC)GATOR70.170.87.222 (talk) 05:07, 18 February 2015 (UTC) 70.170.87.222 (talk) 05:07, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Dublicate (see below) Edgars2007 (talk/contribs) 07:39, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 18 February 2015

Hi Team,

Death date for the personality doesn't appeear to be in sync. Follwoing are the 2 different dates mentioned on te same page:- 1)death date and age|1827|3|5|1745|2|18|df=y}} 1)(February 18, 1745 – March 7, 1827)

125.16.138.141 (talk) 06:20, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

I did check about the date of death. Britannica says the date of death is 5 March 1827. (Britannica Article). I have made the change to the article as well. Thats good enough a reference right? MSheshera (talk) 07:16, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Additional honours conferred

I have added the two awards to the information box the Legion of Honour and the Order of the Iron Crown both of which were conferred to him by Napoleon. I added them after having read through the book "Pioneers of Electricity; Or, Short Lives of the Great Electricians" (page number 98) (link). Do you think those awards should be present there in the information box? Do they count as significant? Also, I could not gather exactly when those awards were conferred on to him. (I figured 1801 from the book) It would be nice if someone were to confirm/find the exact dates and add them as well. MSheshera (talk) 09:58, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Misleading English

I'd have corrected this myself on the main page, only I can't find an Edit function.... "was invited to the Institute of France for demonstrating his invention to the members of the Institute" is misleading English, presumably mistranslated from French "pour démontrer" or Italian "per dimostrare" - "for demonstrating" can only mean Volta was invited to France because he had already demonstrated the invention elsewhere and this was his reward, whereas the obviously intended meaning is that he was invited to France so that he could demonstrate it there: "was invited to the Institute of France to demonstrate his invention to the members of the Institute". I'm afraid things like this are helping to spread bad English (which is then copied and passed on by other non-natives) on Wikipedia and the Internet in general. And the easy excuse that "everyone knows what is meant" doesn't apply here - "for demonstrating" actually means something different (just as in "he was punished for stealing a sheep").188.203.49.105 (talk) 15:57, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Fixed. CuriousEric 16:20, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Physicist?

The article claims that Alessandro Volta was a physicist, but he died in 1827 whereas the word physicist was invented in 1834. Clearly he was something else. I recommend that he be labeled an inventor as he invented the battery.190.81.202.250 (talk) 21:30, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 18 February 2015

PLEASE CHANGE = he raised three sons: Giovanni, Flaminio, and Zanino

TO = he raised three sons: Zanino, Flaminio and Luigi Tobia

SOURCES = http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Volta#Il_matrimonio

http://alessandrovolta.it/vita-di-volta/il-padre-di-famiglia/

87.4.115.186 (talk) 21:46, 18 February 2015 (UTC)