The electric battery makes use of a chemical reaction to produce direct current. There are two basic types: the primary battery, known as a dry cell, which is not rechargeable and is discarded when used up, and the secondary (or storage) battery, which can be recharged. Without batteries modern civilization would come to a grinding halt, yet the origin of the battery dates back at least two hundred years; some sources even say two thousand years.

In the third century B.C. the Parthians, living in what is now Iran, left behind artifacts indicating their knowledge of electroplating.

However, the modern history of the battery begins with an erroneous conclusion made by Luigi Galvani (1737-1798) in 1771. Experimenting with dissected frogs, Galvani noticed that their leg muscles twitched when touched with metal probes, and he decided that "animal electricity" was responsible. Not everyone accepted Galvani's theory, however--one...