Historically, the branch of electrochemistry we now call voltammetry developed from the discovery of
polarography in 1922 by the Czech chemist Jaroslav Heyrovsky, for which he received the 1959 Nobel
Prize in chemistry. The early voltammetric methods experienced a number of difficulties, making them
less than ideal for routine analytical use. However, in the 1960s and 1970s significant advances were
made in all areas of voltammetry (theory, methodology, and instrumentation), which enhanced the sensitivity
and expanded the repertoire of analytical methods. The coincidence of these advances with the
advent of low-cost operational amplifiers also facilitated the rapid commercial development of relatively
inexpensive instrumentation.