ASSIGNMENT NO.

HISTORY OF
ELECTRONICS
Electronics is a very practical field that involves working with electricity to achieve certain goals.
This practical element ought to be obvious, as creating an electrical circuit generally results in a
device that can carry out a functional purpose. The fact that even the most intricate electronic
device is composed of several smaller, simpler circuits and components is something that is
sometimes overlooked in the study of electronics.

History of Electronics

1745

In 1745, when Layden Jar was discovered by Ewald Georg von Kleist and Pieter can
Musschenbroek, Electronics was discovered. It was the first electrical capacitor that was
created using a glass jar filled with water-two wires suspended in the water. The water was
changed with metal foils wrapped so that there was insulation between the layers of foil.

Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Benjamin Franklin demonstrates that the lightning is a form of Static Electricity – an electrical
charge that is at rest – using kite that he flew. The kite was wired and run to produce sparks at
the ground or charge a Leyden jar. Through his demonstration, the difference in electrical
charges was explained by an excess (+) or defect (-) of the single electrical fluid and this is
where the positive and negative symbols come from in Electrical Circuit.

Charles Augustus Coulomb (1736-1806)

Charles Augustus Coulomb invented the torsion balance back in 1785. The torsion balance is a
straightforward instrument consisting of a horizontal cross-bar fixed on a stretched wire.
Coulomb demonstrated that the laws of electrical attraction and repulsion are inversely
squared. In his honor, the unit of charge (Coulomb) is called.

Alessandro Volta (1745-1827)

Alessandro Volta investigates Galvani’s claims about the source of electricity in the frog leg
experiment and announced the results of his experiments. He dipped glasses of brine into the
same bimetallic arcs—many of them. This was Volta’s Couronne des Tasses- his first battery.
The voltaic pile represented advancement in battery design. With it, he demonstrated how
electricity originated from bimetallic arcs. The unit of voltage is later named after him.

André Marie Ampère (1775-1836)

André Marie Ampère showed the relationships between the electricity and magnetism using
algebra. The unit for current (ampere) is named after him.
Hans Christian Oersted (1777-1851)

Hans Christian Oersted demonstration in 1820 of the deflection of a magnetic needle by an

electrical line carrying current established a connection between electricity and magnetism. The
CGS unit for magnetic field (Oersted) is named after him.

George Simon Ohm (1789-1854)

George Simon Ohm wanted to measure the motive force of electrical currents. He found that
some conductors worked better than others and quantified the differences. His theory was not
accepted by his peers so he waited some time to announce the “Ohm’s Law”. The unit for
resistance (Ohms) is named after him.

Michael Faraday (1791-1867) – Father of Electronics

Michael Faraday believed that the “fields of force” is the reason that could move a magnet. This
led to numerous experiments with electricity as a moving force.

In 1821, Faraday built the first electric motor.

In 1831, Faraday made the first transformer. It was powered by a voltaic pile and it is manually
operated with a key to interrupt the current. The unit of capacitance (farad) is named after him.

Karl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855) Wilhelm Eduard Weber (1804-1891)

Gauss and Weber worked in the field of electromagnetism in which they developed telegraph.
His work on the ration between the electrostatic units and electrodynamics was crucial to
Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory of light. The CGS unit of magnetic field density is named after
Gauss and the MKS unit of flux is named after Weber.

Joseph Henry (1797-1878)

Henry worked to improve electromagnets and was the first to superimpose coils of wire to
wrap on an iron core. He insulated the wire for one of his magnets using a silk dress belonging
to his wife. He observed electromagnetic induction and was criticized for not publishing his
discovery, losing the distinction for American science. Henry did obtain priority for the
discovery of self induction. The unit of induction [henry (H)] is named after him.

Heinrich F.E. Lenz (1804-1865)

His law which bears his name - the electrodynamics action of an induced current equally
opposes the mechanical inducing action - was later recognized to be an expression of the
conservation of energy.
Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872)

He brought a practical system of telegraphy to the fore front using electromagnets, and
invented the code (Morse code) named after him in 1844.

Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (1824-1887)

He announced the laws which allow calculation of the current, voltage, and resistance of
electrical networks in 1845 when he was only 21. He also demonstrated that current flows
through a conductor at the speed of light. He created the KCL (Kirchhoff’s Current Law) and KVL
(Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law).

James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879)

He proposed that the phenomenon of light is therefore an electromagnetic phenomenon.

Maxwell concluded that visible light forms only a small part of the entire spectrum because
charges can oscillate with any frequency. He published four equations bearing his name
“Maxwell’s equations”.

Hermann Lud-wig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (1821-1894)

In 1870, he lent his support to Maxwell’s theory which was little known to the European
continent.

Sir William Crookes (1832-1919)

Crookes investigated electrical discharges through “Crookes tubes” in the year 1878. He also
discovered the element Thallium and made the radiometer.

Joseph Wilson Swan (1828-1914)

He demonstrated his electric lamp in February 1879 in Britain. The filament used carbon and
partial vacuum and preceded Edison’s demonstration by six months.

Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) – One of the Greatest Scientist and Inventor in History of
Electronics

He introduced a long lasting filament for incandescent lamp. During his experiments on the
incandescent bulb, he noted a flow of electricity from a hot filament across a vacuum to a metal
wire. The Thermionic Emission (Edison Effect) was the foundation of the work later refined by
Lee De Forest to create Audion.
Oliver Heaviside (1850-1925)

He worked with Maxwell’s equations to reduce the fatigue incurred in solving them and created
a form of vector analysis called “Operational Calculus” midway. This increased the speed of
solution to the problem.

Heinrich Rudolph Hertz (1857-1894)

Hertz was the first person to demonstrate the radio waves. In 1887, he demonstrated that the
velocity of radio waves was equal to light. The unit of frequency (Hertz) is named after him.

Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) – Great Contribution to History of Electronics

In 1888, he showed how a magnetic field could be made to rotate.

In 1905, he demonstrated a wireless remote control boat, while at the same time Marconi was
still transmitting Morse code.

Tesla was declared as the “Father of Radio”.

The unit of magnetic field density (Tesla) is named after him.

Charles Proteus Steinmetz (1865-1923)