Jacques Curie (29 October 1855 – 19 February 1941) 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 cau ...

and professor of

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

at the

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier () is a public university, public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous opera ...

. Along with his younger brother,

Pierre Curie Pierre Curie ( ; ; 15 May 1859 – 19 April 1906) was a French physicist, Radiochemistry, radiochemist, and a pioneer in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity, and radioactivity. He shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife, ...

, he studied pyroelectricity in the 1880s, leading to their discovery of some of the mechanisms behind

piezoelectricity Piezoelectricity (, ) is the electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materials—such as crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter such as bone, DNA, and various proteins—in response to applied mechanical stress. The piezoel ...

. He is buried in the Saint-Lazare cemetery in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

Biography

In 1883, Jacques Curie was appointed professor of

at the

. This appointment marked the end of his collaboration with his brother Pierre. He remained in

until his death in 1941 with the exception of the years 1887–1889, which he spent in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, teaching at the School of Science of Algiers and conducting his research. It was not until 1903 that he was appointed to the chair of physics, a position he retained until his retirement in 1925. His son Maurice Curie was a physicist.

Research and discoveries

The major legacy of Jacques Curie is the discovery of the piezoelectric effect with his brother Pierre in 1880. The two brothers were then laboratory assistants at the Faculty of Sciences of Paris, under the direction of

Charles Friedel Charles Friedel (; 12 March 1832 – 20 April 1899) was a French chemist and Mineralogy, mineralogist. Life A native of Strasbourg, France, he was a student of Louis Pasteur at the University of Paris, Sorbonne. In 1876, he became a professor of ...

. The accounts of their discovery generally give Jacques Curie only a minor role in favor of his brother Pierre. Doubtless the comparison between the latter's brilliant career and the more quiet one of Jacques gives some reason for this, however there is no evidence that Jacques was limited to a minor role: In particular he had more experience than his brother in the study of pyroelectricity. In fact it is almost impossible to clearly separate the contributions of the two brothers as they constantly shared their ideas. According to Shaul Katzir, one must consider the discovery as a joint contribution. The Curie–von Schweidler law refers to the response of

dielectric In electromagnetism, a dielectric (or dielectric medium) is an Insulator (electricity), electrical insulator that can be Polarisability, polarised by an applied electric field. When a dielectric material is placed in an electric field, electric ...

material to the step input of a direct current (DC) voltage first observed by Jacques Curie and Egon Ritter von Schweidler.

References

Jacques Curie in the French Wikipédia">:fr:Jacques Curie">Jacques Curie in the French Wikipédia/blockquote> {{DEFAULTSORT:Curie, Jacques 1856 births 1941 deaths 19th-century French physicists Academic staff of the University of Montpellier Jacques 20th-century French physicists

Biography

Research and discoveries

See also

References