“Perhaps a corpse would be reanimated; galvanism had given tokens of such things. . . ” (8)

This is Victor’s summation of the method through which he discovered “the secret of life” – galvanism. Galvanism is the infusion of electric current into muscle tissue to stimulate them and was believed, for a long time, to be a way to end life and to restore it. It is through the infusion of current that Victor’s ordeal with his creation began. Had Luigi Galvani not discovered galvanism in 1791 with the knowledge becoming common in Shelley's lifetime, then Victor could not have discovered the secret of life and the monster would not have become animated, avoiding the torment that plagued him for the rest of him life.

Source:

"Galvanism." Corrosion science and engineering information hub. Web. 23 Aug. 2009. http://corrosion-doctors.org/Definitions/galvanism.htm.