The French physicist and mathematician, Andre Marie Ampre is mainly credited for laying down the basis

of electrodynamics (now known aselectromagnetism). He was the first person to demonstrate that a magnetic field is generated when two parallel wires are charged with electricity and is also known for inventing the astatic needle, a significant component of the contemporary astatis galvanometer.Andre Marie was born in Lyon, France on 20 January 1775. He grew up at the family property at Poleymieux-au-Mont-dOr near Lyon. His father, Jean-Jacques Ampre was an affluent businessman and local government official. Young Ampre spent most of his time reading in the library of his family home, and developed a great interest in history, geography, literature, philosophy and the natural sciences. His father gave him Latin lessons and encouraged him to pursue his passion for mathematics. Alessandro Volta is one of the most famous Italian physicists who is highly regarded for his invention of the electric cell as well as the 1777 discovery of methane. With this rather weak concept of an electrically charged body, Volta experimented extensively to study electrical induction. He was successfulin creating some devices that were able to store electric charge. Subsequently, he gained fame and received grants to visit other countries. He also saw other famous scientists around this time. Volta accepted a teaching job at the University of Pavia where he stayed for about forty years.Influenced by the efforts of Dc Saussure, Volta developed an interest in atmospheric electricity. He made certain modifications to the electrical instruments made by the Swiss geologist, making them more refined and precise. He came up with methods to measure the so-called electrical tension, later named as the volt.Volta modified another instrument called the eudiometer, which measured the volume and composition of gases. He was successful in finding out that ordinary air contains about 21% of oxygen. The modified version of the instrument also helped Lavoisier on his legendary work regarding the composition of water. Volta found out that the inflammable gas which creates bubbles in marshes was methane, which is now used as a fuel.Volta initially rejected the Galvanis idea of animal electricity. When he carried out the experiment himself, he was amazed that the same effect, momentary electric current, which was discovered by Galvani, can be achieved using metals and not dead frogs. Volta made it clear that electriccurrents could be generated by appropriately connecting metals or wires. Using zinc and copper wires and saline solutions, Volta successfully construced the first electric battery, widely considered to be one of the greatest and most important breakthroughs in the history of science and mankind. Alessandro Volta retired in 1819 to his estate in Camnago, Lombardy, Italy (now called Camnago Volta). He died on March 5, 1827 at the age of 82. Volta was raised in a strict Catholic family. He got his early education from a Jesuit school. He was adored by his teachers who thought Volta had all the abilities to become a good Jesuit priest.Volta was very keen about studying electricity which was in its earliest stages at the time. He envisioned that there is a net neutral condition in a body in which all electrical attractions are neutralized. This effect could be transformed by some external source which later changes the relative configuration of the particles. Volta believed that in such an electrically unstable state, the body gets electrically charged.

Georg Simon Ohm, more commonly known as Georg Ohm, was a German physicist, best known for his Ohms Law, which implies that the current flow through a conductor is directly proportional to the potential difference (voltage) and inversely proportional to the resistance. The physical unit ofelectrical resistance, the Ohm, also was named after him. When higher degrees of political instability were observed in the early 1800s were seen in Bavaria as the struggle against Napoleon rose, Ohm chose to leave native Bavaria in 1817 for Cologne, where he attained a Readership at the university. Ohm started passionately working on theconductivity of metals and the behavior of electrical circuits. So much that he quit teaching in Cologne and got settled in his brothers house in Berlin.After extensive research, he wrote Die galvanische Kette, mathematisch bearbeitet, which formulated the relationship between voltage (potential), current and resistance in an electrical circuit: I = EIR After initial criticism, most particularly by Hegel, the noted creator of German Idealism, who rejected the authenticity of the experimental approach of Ohm, the glory finally came in 1841 when the Royal Society of London honored him with the Copley Medal for his extraordinary efforts. Several German scholars, including an adviser to the State on the development of telegraphy, also recognized Ohms work a few months later.The pertinence of Ohms Law to electrolytes and thermoelectric junctions and metallic conductors, was demonstrated recognized soon enough. The law still remains the most widely used and appreciated of all the rulesrelated to the behavior of electrical circuits.Born in 1789 in the university town of Erlangen, Bavaria, his younger Martin Ohm also became a famous mathematician. Georg Ohm studied mathematics and physics at Erlangen University. For economical reasons, he had to do some teaching jobs while studying, which he found quite bothering. Georg Ohm was made a foreign member of the Royal Society in 1842, and a full member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities in 1845.Ohm died on July 6, 1854. He was 65 years old. James Watt was born in Greenock on 18 January 1736. His father was a prosperous shipwright. Watt initially worked as a maker of mathematical instruments, but soon became interested in steam engines.The first working steam engine had been patented in 1698 and by the time of Watt's birth, Newcomen engines were pumping water from mines all over the country. In around 1764, Watt was given a model Newcomen engine to repair. He realised that it was hopelessly inefficient and began to work to improve the design. He designed a separate condensing chamber for the steam engine that prevented enormous losses of steam. His first patent in 1769 covered this device and other improvements on Newcomen's engine.Watt's partner and backer was the inventor John Roebuck. In 1775, Roebuck's interest was taken over by Matthew Boulton who owned an engineering works in Birmingham.Boulton & Watt became the most important engineering firm in the country, meeting considerable demand.In 1785, Watt and Boulton were elected fellows of the Royal Society.By 1790, Watt was a wealthy man and in 1800 he retired and devoted himself entirely to researchwork. He patented several other important inventions including the rotary engine, the double-action engine and the steam indicator, which records the steam pressure inside the engine.Watt died on 19 August 1819. A unit of measurement of electrical and mechanical power - the watt - is named in his honour.