Fundamentals of Electrostatic DischargeFundamentals of Electrostatic Discharge Part One--An Introduction to ESD 2001, ESD Association, Rome, NY History & Background To many people, static electricity is little more than the shock experienced when touching a metal doorknob after walking across a carpeted room or sliding across a car seat. However, static electricity has been a serious industrial problem for centuries. As early as the 1400’s, European and Caribbean forts were using static control procedures and devices to prevent electrostatic discharge ignition of black powder stores. By the 1860's, paper mills throughout the U.S. employed basic grounding, flame ionization techniques, and steam drums to dissipate static electricity from the paper web as it traveled through the drying process. The age of electronics brought wit……