From the mysterious Baghdad Battery dating back to 250 BC, to the cutting-edge solid-state batteries of today, the history of batteries is truly electrifying! (pun intended) As someone who’s been in the thick of it, I can’t help but feel excited when I think about the journey batteries have taken.
But when there are significant advances in battery chemistries, those have really fundamentally changed the way we use batteries in modern technology. And so, just looking back over history, right? You had those early zinc carbon batteries and then the lead acid battery, which is the starter battery for most vehicles.
For many of us, the mention of batteries might conjure up images of small cylindrical objects that power our remote controls or the larger packs that breathe life into our smartphones and laptops. But the battery’s story is neither recent nor as simple as its present applications might suggest.
Without its conception, modern comforts such as computers, vehicles and communication devices may not have been possible. Before Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity in the 1740s, the concept of batteries may have already been in existence, since as early as 2,000 years ago.
And the biggest complaint about it from the average user is that batteries die too quickly or the battery life is getting shorter over time as it degrades to the untrained non chemist eye, which it was just the same mine, the battery for all of its marvel is, appears to be one of the weaker links in the technological chain.
The battery is one of the most important man-made inventions all throughout history. Today, it is generally used as a portable source of power, but in the past, batteries were our only source of electricity. Without its conception, modern comforts such as computers, vehicles and communication devices may not have been possible.