Milestone-Proposal talk:Ferraris

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Advocate's approval -- Juan Carlos (talk) 21:40, 29 June 2019 (UTC)

As the advocate, I’m in favor of approving the proposed milestone covering the ground-breaking theoretical and practical work of Galileo Ferraris on magnetic rotating fields and its application in induction motors.

The required two favorable expert opinions have been obtained, (and none negative among the consulted):

John Yagielski, senior Principal engineer at GE Global research center, and active member of the IEEE PES electrical machinery committee

Edward Owen, IEEE Richard Kaufman Award recipient in 2003 for his work on induction motors.

After an enriching exchange of concepts with the proposer, Prof. Michele Tartaglia, and with his consent, the name of the milestone is suggested as

"Rotating Magnetic Fields and Early Induction Motors, 1885-1888“

and a slightly changed citation as follows:

In 1885-1888 Galileo Ferraris, professor at the Italian Industrial Museum of Turin, conceived and demonstrated the principle of rotating magnetic fields (Ferraris' Fields) produced by two stationary coils with perpendicular axes fed by alternating currents phase-shifted by 90 degrees. He also constructed prototypes of two-phase AC induction motors. Rotating fields, polyphase currents and its application to induction motors had a fundamental role in the electrification of the world.

this wording eliminates some concerns raised about interpretation of the last phrase of the original proposal: “He also constructed prototypes of two-phase ac motors which paved the way to three-phase industrial induction motors and to the success of three-phase electric power. “

That phrase was perhaps too bold, and could be misinterpreted, given other work in this field. Among others Tesla (who also pioneered development of TWO-phase electrical motors) and the citation for the Rheinfelden Hydroelectric Power Plant Milestone, which pioneered the present 3-phase world standard.


The original building where Ferraris work was done, “Reggio Museo Industriale Italiano” -which was also a Higher technical education school, did not survive WWII.

The Politecnico de Torino continues its tradition. The plaque will be appropriately placed at the public entrance of its Energy Center. The nominator Michele Tartaglia will be uploading additional information which justifies the choosing of the place.

Proposer's approval reported by Antonio Savini, History Committee member -- Savini (talk) 12:15, 5 August 2019 (UTC)

On behalf of Michele Tartaglia, proposer of the Milestone who was unable to technically upload his reply to the advocate, I attach it here below

" I fully agree with the productive suggestions of the advocate, that make the title more appropriate and the citation clearer, stronger and even shorter.

Therefore the improved version of the citation reads:

Rotating Magnetic Field and Early Induction Motors, 1885-1888

In 1885-1888 Galileo Ferraris, professor at the Italian Industrial Museum (now Polytechnic) of Turin, conceived and demonstrated the principle of the rotating magnetic field (Ferraris' field) produced by two stationary coils with perpendicular axes fed by alternating currents phase-shifted by 90 degrees. He also constructed prototypes of two-phase AC motors. Rotating fields, polyphase currents and their application to induction motors had a fundamental role in the electrification of the world.

As concerns the proposed location of the plaque, here is a short description of it: Because of the distruction of the original building (Museo Industriale Italiano di Torino) during WWII, the main campus of the Engineering Faculty of the Polytechnic of Turin was designed, built and inaugurated in 1958. In the following year the main campus was doubled. The chosen location for the Milestone plaque is in the main hall of a new building called "Energy Center" set up in 2016 by the Polytechnic of Turin in order to develop energy innovations by some public and private institutions. The address is Via Paolo Borsellino 38/16, I10138 Torino Italy. The proposed building (50m far from the present border of the main campus) includes a conference hall and many research laboratories of national and foreign institutions and companies. The new modern building, according to the Rector of the Polytechnic, seems the most appropriate in order to present Galileo Ferraris who devoted a lot of efforts to the study of energy applications. The building is suitable for seminars, meetings, conferences and energy research; it is open 5 days a week and on Saturday morning. A reception desk and a surveillance service is available both to guide the visitors and to protect the building during its opening time. A private police continously guarantees the campus protection. The plaque will be located in the main hall on a special support designed for this purpose.

Michele Tartaglia "

Minor comment -- Amy Bix (talk) 02:23, 5 September 2019‎ (UTC)

Just some minor punctuation recommendations:

In 1885-1888, Galileo Ferraris, professor at the Italian Industrial Museum (now Polytechnic) of Turin, conceived and demonstrated the principle of the rotating magnetic field (Ferraris' field), produced by two stationary coils with perpendicular axes, fed by alternating currents phase-shifted by 90 degrees. He also constructed prototypes of two-phase AC motors. Rotating fields, polyphase currents, and their application to induction motors had a fundamental role in the electrification of the world.

-- JaninA (talk) 11:52, 14 September 2019 (UTC)

I suggest to remove the repletion of dates between Title and Citation.