Innovators in Battery Technology

As the world’s demand for electrical energy increases, it will be the ingenuity and skill of brilliant electrochemists that enable us to utilize the planet’s mineral reserves responsibly.
This biographical dictionary profiles 95 electrochemists from 19 nations who during the past 270 years have researched and developed ever more efficient batteries and energy cells. Each entry traces the subject’s origin, education, discoveries and patents, as well as hobbies and family life. The breakthroughs of early innovators are cataloged and the work of living scientists and technicians is brought up to date. An appendix provides a cross-referenced timeline of innovation.

Kevin Desmond, a technology historian and biographer, lives near Bordeaux in southern France. Since 1976, he has published 33 books and 300-plus articles on the men and women innovators, often forgotten, behind the progress of transport and related subjects.

Kevin Desmond
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 280
Bibliographic Info: 81 photos & illustrations, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2016
pISBN: 978-0-7864-9933-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2278-1
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments  v
Foreword by Michael Halls  1
Preface  2
The Innovators (A–Z)
André, ­Henri-Georges (1896–1967) 3
Bacon, Francis Thomas (1904–1992) 4
Bagotsky, Vladimir Sergeevich (1920–2012) 7
Bagshaw, Norman Ernest (1933– ) 8
Bain, Alexander (1810–1877) 10
Barak, Montefiore (1904–1989) 11
Bode, Hans Heinrich Christian (1905–1989) 14
Böhnstedt, Werner (1945– ) 16
Brush, Charles Francis (1849–1929) 17
Bullock, Kathryn R. (1945– ) 19
Bunsen, Robert Wilhelm Eberhard (1811–1899) 23
Burbank, Jeanne B. (1915–2002) 25
Burgess, Charles Frederick (1873–1945) 28
Cairns, Elton James (1932– ) 30
Callan, Nicholas Joseph (1799–1864) 32
Chapin, Daryl M. (1906–1995), Calvin Souther Fuller (1902–1994) and
Gerald Leondus Pearson (1905–1987) 36
Clark, Josiah Latimer (1822–1898) 41
Coetzer, Johan (1941– ) 42
Conway, Brian Evans (1927–2005) 46
Cooper, John Frederick (1946– ) 48
Daniell, John Frederic (1790–1845) 50
Davy, Humphry (1778–1829) 53
Devitt, John Lawrence (1925– ) 56
Dicks, Andrew Leslie (1948– ) 60
Drumm, James J. (1897–1974) 62
Edison, Thomas Alva (1847–1931) 64
Faure, Camille Alphonse (1840–1898) 67
Feder, David O. (1924–2011) 71
Franklin, Benjamin (1706–1790) 72
Furukawa, Jun (1957– ) 74
Garche, Jürgen Werner (1944– ) 78
Gassner, Carl (1839–1882) 81
Goodenough, John Bannister (1922– ) 84
Grätzel, Michael (1944– ) 89
Greatbatch, Wilson (1919–2011) 92
Green, Martin Andrew (1948– ) 94
Grey, Clare P. (1965– ) 98
Grove, William Robert (1811–1896) 100
Hare, Robert (1781–1858) 102
Haring, Howard Egbert (1898–1965) 102
Hatazawa, Tsuyonobu (1962– ) 103
Hellesen, Frederik Louis Wilhelm (1836–1892) 105
Jache, Otto (1915–1993) 107
Jacques, William W. (1855–1932) 109
Jedlik, Ányos (1800–1895) 111
Jungner, Ernst Waldemar (1869–1924) 114
Kabanov, Boris Nikolaevich (1904–1988) 118
Kelley, Kurtis C. (1952– ) 120
Kirchhof, Charles F. (1811–1882) 123
König, Wilhelm (fl. 1930s) 124
Kordesch, Karl V. (1922–2011) 125
Lam, Lan Trieu (1953– ) 129
Leclanché, Georges (1839–1882) 132
Lewis, Gilbert Newton (1875–1946) and Frederick George Keyes (1885–1976) 134
Monahov, Boris Ivanov (1954– ) 135
Moseley, Patrick Timothy (1943– ) 138
Musschenbroek, Pieter (Petrus) van (1692–1761) 140
Nora, Vittorio de (1912–2008) 143
Ogumi, Zempachi (1945– ) 145
Ohl, Russell Shoemaker (1898–1987) 147
Ovshinsky, Stanford Robert (1922–2012) 148
Pavlov, Detchko (1930– ) 152
Peters, Kenneth (1928– ) 156
Pierson, John Ronald (1936– ) 160
Planté, ­Raymond-Louis-Gaston (1834–1889) 167
Prengaman, R. David (1943– ) 171
Rand, David Anthony James (1942‒) 175
Renard, Charles (1847–1905) 179
Ritter, Johann Wilhelm (1776–1810) 181
Ruben, Samuel (1900–1988) 182
Ruetschi, Paul (1925– ) 187
Sadoway, Donald Robert (1950– ) 189
Salkind, Alvin J. (1927–2015) 190
Sampson, Henry Thomas (1934– ) 193
Sastry, Ann Marie (1967– ) 194
Scrosati, Bruno (1937– ) 197
Sinsteden, Wilhelm Josef (1803–1891) 199
Skyllas-Kazacos, Maria (1951– ) 200
Smee, Alfred (1818–1877) 207
Sudworth, James (1939–2013) 208
Takeuchi, Esther Sans (1953– ) 212
Thackeray, Michael Makepeace (1949– ) 215
Tobias, Charles W. (1920–1996) 223
Trouvé, Gustave Pierre (1939–1902) 224
Urry, Lewis F. (1927–2004) 228
Volta, Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio (1745–1827) 231
Voss, Ernst Christian Hinrich (1923–2004) 235
Whittingham, M. Stanley (1941– ) 237
Wollaston, William Hyde (1766–1828) 242
Yai, Sakizou (1863–1927) 243
Yeager, Ernest B. (1924–2002) 244
Zamboni, Giuseppe (1776–1846) 246
Appendix: Timeline  249
Bibliography  253
Index  255

• “A nice contribution to a global field growing in importance…highly recommended”—Choice
• “For students and scholars of the history of battery technology, this will be a useful resource to consult. Academic and special libraries with patrons working in this area should consider adding this volume to their collections.”—ARBA