Polyphased Alternating Currents - Illustrated #251641

But, before entering upon our subject, we will show briefly how the increasing progress of electrical industry has led engineers to create a system which four years ago did not exist. From 1800 to 1830, the date of the discovery of induction by Faraday, the voltaic pile sufficed for electrical researches of a purely scientific character. From 1830 to 1850, during which period we can trace the gradual growth of electrical industry, then limited to telegraphy and electro-chemical operations, the pile was still sufficient for the applications for which it was required. From 1850 to 1870, we find attempts being made to substitute for the battery a more powerful and more economical generator of electrical energy, a continuous current generator. This problem was solved by Gramme in 1870.