Claude Servais Mathias Pouillet (16 February 1790 – 14 June 1868) was a French
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe.
Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...
and a professor of physics at the
Sorbonne
Sorbonne may refer to:
* Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities.
*the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970)
*one of its components or linked institution, ...
and member of the
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at the ...
(elected 1837).
Biography
He studied sciences at the
École normale supérieure (Paris)
The ''École normale supérieure - PSL'' (; also known as ''ENS'', ''Normale sup, ''Ulm'' or ''ENS Paris'') is a ''grande école'' university in Paris, France. It is one of the constituent members of Paris Sciences et Lettres University (PSL). ...
, and from 1829 to 1849 was associated with the
Conservatoire national des arts et métiers
A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...
, first as a professor, and beginning in 1832, an administrator. After the death of
Pierre Louis Dulong
Pierre Louis Dulong FRS FRSE (; ; 12 February 1785 – 19 July 1838) was a French physicist and chemist. He is remembered today largely for the law of Dulong and Petit, although he was much-lauded by his contemporaries for his studies into ...
in 1838, he attained the chair of
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which relat ...
at the Faculty of Sciences.
[Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers]
edited by Virginia Trimble, Thomas R. Williams, Katherine Bracher, Richard Jarrell, Jordan D. Marché, F. Jamil Ragep For a brief period of time, he was chair of physics at the
École Polytechnique
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savo ...
(1831), where he was succeeded by
César Despretz in 1831 and
Gabriel Lamé
Gabriel Lamé (22 July 1795 – 1 May 1870) was a French mathematician who contributed to the theory of partial differential equations by the use of curvilinear coordinates, and the mathematical theory of elasticity (for which linear elasticity ...
in 1832.
In 1852, he was compulsorily retired from the Faculty of Sciences because he refused to swear an oath of allegiance to the
imperial government that took power in late 1851.
[
]
Scientific research
The Pouillet effect was named after the phenomenon that he published in 1822 on the heat produced by the wetting of dry sand.
He developed a pyrheliometer
A pyrheliometer is an instrument for measurement of direct beam solar irradiance. Sunlight enters the instrument through a window and is directed onto a thermopile which converts heat to an electrical signal that can be recorded. The signal ...
and made, between 1837 and 1838, the first quantitative measurements of the solar constant
The solar constant (''GSC'') is a flux density measuring mean solar electromagnetic radiation (total solar irradiance) per unit area. It is measured on a surface perpendicular to the rays, one astronomical unit (au) from the Sun (roughly the d ...
. His estimate was 1228 W/m2, very close to the current estimate of 1367 W/m2. Using the Dulong-Petit law inappropriately, he estimated the temperature
Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer.
Thermometers are calibrated in various Conversion of units of temperature, temp ...
of the Sun's surface to be around 1800 °C. This value was corrected in 1879 to 5430 °C by Jožef Stefan (1835–1893).
He published works on optics
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...
, electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
, magnetism
Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particles ...
, meteorology
Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...
, photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed i ...
and photometry Photometry can refer to:
* Photometry (optics), the science of measurement of visible light in terms of its perceived brightness to human vision
* Photometry (astronomy), the measurement of the flux or intensity of an astronomical object's electrom ...
. In the field of optics he conducted investigations of diffraction phenomena. In his studies of electricity, he designed sine and tangent galvanometers.[ Pouillet developed and corrected ]Joseph Fourier
Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier (; ; 21 March 1768 – 16 May 1830) was a French mathematician and physicist born in Auxerre and best known for initiating the investigation of Fourier series, which eventually developed into Fourier analysis and ...
's work on the surface temperature of the earth, developing the first real mathematical treatment of the greenhouse effect
The greenhouse effect is a process that occurs when energy from a planet's host star goes through the planet's atmosphere and heats the planet's surface, but greenhouse gases in the atmosphere prevent some of the heat from returning directly ...
. He speculated that water vapour and carbon dioxide might trap infrared radiation in the atmosphere, warming the earth enough to support plant and animal life.
Lehrbuch der Physik und Meteorologie
Svante Arrhenius
Svante August Arrhenius ( , ; 19 February 1859 – 2 October 1927) was a Swedish scientist. Originally a physicist, but often referred to as a chemist, Arrhenius was one of the founders of the science of physical chemistry. He received the Nob ...
(1896) cited a great deal of Pouillet's work.
Bibliography
*''Mémoire sur l'électricité des fluides élastiques et sur une des causes de l'électricité de l'atmosphère'' (1828)
*''Éléments de physique expérimentale et de météorologie'' (1827
*''Leçons de physique de la Faculté des sciences de Paris, recueillies et rédigées par M. Grosselin'', (22 mars 1828 au 29 juillet 1828) Volume II: magnétisme, électricité, galvanisme, électro-magnétisme, acoustique, optiqu
*''Mémoire sur la chaleur solaire, sur les pouvoirs rayonnants et absorbants de l'air atmosphérique et sur la température de l'espace'' (1838)
*''Notions générales de physique et de météorologie à l'usage de la jeunesse'' (1850)
*''Mémoire sur la densité de l'alcool ; sur celle des mélanges alcooliques ; sur un nouveau mode de graduation de l'aréomètre à degrés égaux'' (1859)
*''Mémoire sur la position des pôles dans l'intérieur des barreaux aimantés et sur la mesure absolue des forces magnétiques'' (1859)
See also
*Stefan–Boltzmann law
The Stefan–Boltzmann law describes the power radiated from a black body in terms of its temperature. Specifically, the Stefan–Boltzmann law states that the total energy radiated per unit surface area of a black body across all wavelengths ...
* Tangent galvanometer
References
The measurement of the solar constant by Claude Pouillet''
, by J-L Dufresne
No. 60, pp. 36–43, Feb. 2008.
Most widely held works by Pouillet
OCLC WorldCat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pouillet, Claude Servais Mathias
1790 births
1868 deaths
19th-century French physicists
19th-century French inventors
University of Paris faculty
People from Doubs
Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery