Michael Faraday is credited with the discovery of the transformer. This is due to his discovery of electromagnetic induction, which is the principal function of the transformer. Otto Blathy is credited for being the first person to design and use a transformer based on Farday's initial discovery.
- The property of induction was first discovered in the 1830's.
- Otto Blathy, Karoly Zipernowsky, and Miska Deri designed the first transformers.
- The transformer was then perfected in design William Stanley, Lucien Gaulard, and Sebastian Ferranti.
- The first reliable commercial transformer was designed and created by William Stanley in 1878.
- The transformer continued to evolve over time, and is now used in all electrical appliances in the household today.
As you can see, there are many important names to consider when looking at the discovery of the transformer, but I believe that Faraday was the most important, as it was his discovery that ultimately led to the invention of the transformer that we know today.