Luigi Galvani was not especially interested in electricity . At least, not at first. Born on September 9, 1737, at Bologna, Italy, Galvani was initially a student of theology, but he switched to the study of medicine, receiving his degree in 1762. In 1775 he was appointed professor of anatomy and gynecology at the University of Bologna, the school from which he graduated.

In 1771, Galvani happened to observe the dissection of a frog and noticed the dead frog's legs would twitch when a spark touched them. This was no big surprise; it was known that live muscle tissue twitched when touched with a spark, so dead tissue ought to react the same way.

At first Galvani had no further interest in the incident, but later he recalled that a generation earlier Benjamin Franklin had shown lightning was an electrical phenomena. Galvani reasoned that if Franklin was right, lightning should have the same effect...