In physics, the generation of a voltage in a
circuit containing two different metals, or
semiconductors, by keeping the junctions
between them at different temperatures.
Discovered by the German physicist Thomas
Seebeck (1770-1831), it is also called the
thermoelectric effect, and is the basis of
the thermocouple. It is the opposite of the
Peltier effect (in which current flow causes
a temperature difference between the
junctions of different metals).