Basic concepts of electric circuits

1.1.3 Milestones of electric circuit theory

Many early scientists have made great contributions in developing the theorems
of electrical circuits. The laws and physical quantities that they discovered are
named after them, and all are important milestones in the field of electric
engineering. We list here only the ones that are described in this book.

Coulomb is the unit of electric charge; it was named in the honour of

Charles Augustin de Coulomb (17361806), a French physicist. Coulomb
developed Coulombs law, which is the definition of the electrostatic force
of attraction and repulsion, and the principle of charge interactions
(attraction or repulsion of positive and negative electric charges).
Faraday is the unit of capacitance; it was named in the honour of Michael
Faraday (17911867), an English physicist and chemist. He discovered that
relative motion of the magnetic field and conductor can produce electric
current, which we know today as the Faradays law of electromagnetic
induction. Faraday also discovered that the electric current originates from
the chemical reaction that occurs between two metallic conductors.
Ampere is the unit of electric current; it was named in the honour of AndreMarie Ampe`re (17751836), a French physicist. He was one of the main
discoverers of electromagnetism and is best known for defining a method
to measure the flow of current.
Ohm is the unit of resistance; it was named in the honour of Georg Simon
Ohm (17891854), a German physicist. He established the relationship
between voltage, current and resistance, and formulated the most famous
electric circuit law Ohms law.
Volt is the unit of voltage; it was named in the honour of Alessandro Volta
(17451827), an Italian physicist. He constructed the first electric battery
that could produce a reliable, steady current.
Watt is the unit of power; it was named in the honour of James Watt
(17361819), a Scottish engineer and inventor. He made great improvements in the steam engine and made important contributions in the area
of magnetic fields.
Lenzs law was named in the honour of Heinrich Friedrich Emil Lenz (1804
1865), a Baltic German physicist. He discovered that the polarity of the
induced current that is produced in the conductor of the magnetic field
always resists the change of its induced voltage; this is known as Lenzs law.
Maxwell is the unit of magnetic flux; it was named in the honour of James
Clerk Maxwell (18311879), a Scottish physicist and mathematician. The
German physicist Wilhelm Eduard Weber (18041891) shares the honour
with Maxwell (1 Wb 108 Mx). Maxwell had established the Maxwells
equations that represent perfect ways to state the fundamentals of electricity and magnetism.
Hertz is the unit of frequency; it was named in the honour of Heinrich
Rudolf Hertz (18571894), a German physicist and mathematician. He