ABSTRACT
Nicholas Joseph Callan was a priest and scientist; from 1826 until his death in 1864 he was Professor of Natural Philosophy at Maynooth College, which had been founded in 1795 by the Irish Parliament for the education of Catholic clergy. He was a pioneer in electrical science, constructing great batteries, electromagnets and electric motors, his greatest achievement being the invention of the induction coil in 1836. His great coil of 1837 was capable of producing fifteen-inch sparks, thus producing hundreds of thousands of volts from a source of five or six batteries.
