An
electrophorus is a simple manual
capacitive generator used to produce
electrostatic charge via the process of
electrostatic induction. A first version of it was invented in 1762 by Swedish professor
Johan Carl Wilcke, but Italian scientist
Alessandro Volta improved and popularized the device in 1775, and is sometimes erroneously credited with its invention. The word
electrophorus was coined by Volta from the Greek ήλεκτρον ('elektron'), and ϕέρω ('phero'), meaning 'electricity bearer'.