Charles François de Cisternay du Fay
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Charles François de Cisternay du Fay (14 September 1698 – 16 July 1739) was a French
chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...
and superintendent of the Jardin du Roi. He discovered the existence of two types of electricity and named them " vitreous" and " resinous" (later known as positive and negative
charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...
respectively). He noted the difference between conductors and
insulators Insulator may refer to: * Insulator (electricity), a substance that resists electricity ** Pin insulator, a device that isolates a wire from a physical support such as a pin on a utility pole ** Strain insulator, a device that is designed to work ...
, calling them 'electrics' and 'non-electrics' for their ability to produce
contact electrification Contact electrification is a phrase that describes a phenomenon whereby surfaces become electrically charged, via a number of possible mechanisms, when two or more objects come within close proximity of one another. When two objects are "touched" ...
. He also discovered that alike-charged objects would repel each other and that unlike-charged objects attract. He also disproved certain misconceptions regarding electric charge, such as that of Dr. Stephen Gray who believed that electric properties of a body depended on its colour. Du Fay's observations on electricity were reported in a paper written in December 1733 and printed in Volume 38 of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1734. He became a member of the French Academy of Sciences in 1723. Du Fay died of smallpox in 1739.The Story of Electrical and Magnetic Measurements: From 500 BC to the 1940s, Joseph F. Keithley, p. 20


Publications

All Du Fay's publications appeared in the journal ''Histoire de l'Académie Royale des Sciences: avec les mémoires de mathématique & de physique pour les mêmes années'' * ''Mémoire sur les baromètres lumineux''. 1723, PDF. * ''Description d'une Pompe, qui peut servir utilement dans les Incendies''. 1725, PDF. * ''Description d'une machine pour connaitre l'heure vraie du soleil tous les jours de l'annee''. 1725, PDF. * ''Expériences sur la dissolubilité de plusieurs sortes de Verres''. 1727, PDF. * ''Remarques sur les polygones réguliers inscrits et circonscrits''. 1727, PDF. * ''Observations sur quelques expériences de l'aimant''. 1728, PDF. * ''Mémoire sur la teinture et la dissolution de plusieurs espèces de pierres''. 1728, PDF. * ''Mémoire sur un grand nombre de phosphores nouveaux''. 1730, PDF. * ''Suite des Observations sur l'aimant''. 1730, PDF. * ''Troisième Mémoire sur l'aimant''. 1731. PDF. * ''Premier mémoire sur l'électricité, Histoire de l'électricité''. 1733, PDF. * ''Second mémoire sur l'électricité, Quels sont les Corps qui sont susceptibles d'Electricité''. 1733, PDF. * ''Troisième mémoire sur l'électricité, Des Corps qui sont le plus vivement attirés par les matiéres électriques…''. 1733, PDF. * ''Quatrième mémoire sur l'électricité, De l'Attraction & Répulsion des Corps Electriques''. 1733, PDF. * ''Cinquième mémoire sur l'électricité, Où l'on rend compte des nouvelles découvertes…'' 1734, PDF. * ''Sixième mémoire sur l'électricité, Où l'on examine quel rapport il y a entre l'Electricité, & la faculté de rendre de la Lumiére''. 1734, PDF. * ''Mémoire sur la roseé''. 1736, PDF. * ''Observations sur la sensitive''. 1736, PDF. * ''Septième mémoire sur l'électricité, Contenant quelques Additions aux Mémoires précédents''. 1737, PDF. * ''Huitième mémoire sur l'électricité''. 1737, PDF. * ''Versuche und Abhandlungen von der Electricität derer Cörper…'' Erfurt 1745
Online


References


External links


Two Kinds of Electrical Fluid: Vitreous and Resinous
du Fay 1733
A Letter from Charles-François de Cisternay Du Fay concerning electricity.


{{DEFAULTSORT:Fay, Charles Francois de Cisternay du 1698 births 1739 deaths 18th-century French chemists Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the French Academy of Sciences