When was it proposed that electricity and magnetism were distinct effects by scientists William Gilbert ?
In the late 18th century the Italian physician and anatomist Luigi Galvani marked the birth of electrochemistry by establishing a bridge between chemical reactions and electricity on his essay "" De Viribus Electricitatis in Motu Musculari Commentarius "" ( Latin for Commentary on the Effect of Electricity on Muscular Motion ) in 1791 where he proposed a "" nerveo - electrical substance "" on biological life forms .