Already in prehistoric times, people had a panicked fear of storms, viewing them as divine punishment. The Romans were even convinced that Jupiter, one of the Roman gods, would throw lightning bolts formed from volcanic magma.
Huge flashes and deafening sounds, like lunar and solar eclipses, were unexplainable phenomena to the people of the time, and everything unexplainable was blamed on the gods.
The pioneers of lightning protection were Czechs
It was in 1750 that Czech inventor, Catholic priest, and naturalist Prokop Diviš discovered a way to protect himself from the devastating effects of lightning. Divish discovered that lightning is a powerful electrostatic discharge, accompanied by strong luminescence, which seeks the shortest path to the opposing charge. This is mainly contained in tree tops, tall buildings, and on the ground when humidity is high.
An explanation for the frequent lightning strikes on buildings was born, and it was a Czech inventor who first patented a lightning protection called the lightning rod. For many years the scientific community claimed that the inventor of the lightning rod was the American diplomat and naturalist Benjamin Franklin, but he registered his patent only 10 years later than our Davis.
Today we have electronic lightning rods
The principle of Davis\’s lightning rod was to set up a series of 400 spiked crosses on a 40 meter high mast, connected to the ground by several chains. Today\’s mechanical lightning rods consist of a system of stainless steel or copper wires drawn along the roof ridge, connecting the highest points of the building and connecting to the ground at several points.
The most modern protection against the effects of lightning is the so-called active lightning rod. In this case, a short mast is installed at the highest point of the protected building, on which is fixed a head containing an electronic device that reacts to active changes in the electrostatic field. The advantage of this type of surge arrestor is that it causes minimal interference to the building and only one leakage to the ground.
What must be done to protect the building?
– Ask a specialist to install lightning rods
– Remember that lightning rods must be installed by a specialist in the electrical field, not, for example, a plumber.
