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Alfred Potier
Alfred Potier (11 May 1840 - 8 May 1905) was a French polymath who contributed to many theoretical and practical fields of science when this was rapidly expanding. His interests covered mainly mathematical physics, the nature of light and the ether, geology, electricity and magnetism and their practical applications in industry. His name appears in a little explored footnote inserted by Albert A. Michelson and Edward W. Morley in their famous publication. Biography Born in 1840, Potier entered the École Polytechnique at age 17, where in 1867 he became a physics teacher, and then in 1881 full Professor of Physics, succeeding Jamin and preceding Nobel Laureate Henri Becquerel. At the same time, he was member of the State Mining Engineers Corps, occupying the chair of Physics in the École des Mines where he taught Henri Poincaré. Geological works included revisions of the geological map of France and submarine topographies in Pas-de-Calais in order to examine the feasibility of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polymath
A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, but some are gifted at explaining abstractly and creatively. Embodying a basic tenet of Renaissance humanism that humans are limitless in their capacity for development, the concept led to the notion that people should embrace all knowledge and develop their capacities as fully as possible. This is expressed in the term Renaissance man, often applied to the Intellectual giftedness, gifted people of that age who sought to develop their abilities in all areas of accomplishment: intellectual, artistic, social, physical, and spiritual. Etymology The word polymath derives from the Ancient Greek, Greek roots ''poly-'', which means "much" or "many," and ''manthanein'', which means "to learn." Plutarch wrote that the Ancient Greek Muses, muse P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thematic Origins Of Scientific Thought
''Thematic Origins of Scientific Thought: Kepler to Einstein'' is a collection of essays on themes in the history of physics by Gerald Holton. It was originally published in 1973 by Harvard University Press, who issued multiple reprints of the book leading up to the publication of a revised edition in 1988. The book has been translated into several languages and has received many reviews. Background Holton was a well-known professor of physics at Harvard and a historian of science. In the book, Holton draws on "themata" that tie breakthroughs together in the history of physics; one reviewer noted that he may be the first person to draw a clear line between the philosophy book '' Either/Or'' and the complementarity principle of quantum mechanics that was formulated by Niels Bohr in the early twentieth century. After the release of the first edition, Holton released two sequels to the work, '' The Scientific Imagination'' and '' The Advancement of Science and its Burdens'' in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
École Polytechnique Alumni
École or Ecole 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, Savoie, a French commune * École-Valentin, a French commune in the Doubs département * Grandes écoles, higher education establishments in France * The École The École, formerly Ecole Internationale de New York, is an intimate and independent French-American school, which cultivates an internationally minded community of students from 2 to 14 years old in New York City’s vibrant Flatiron Distric ..., a French-American bilingual school in New York City * Ecole Software, a Japanese video-games developer/publisher {{disambiguation, geo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1905 Deaths
As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Dmitri Shostakovich, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 (Shostakovich), 11th Symphony is subtitled ''The Year 1905'' to commemorate this) and the start of Revolution in the Kingdom of Poland (1905–07), Revolution in the Kingdom of Poland. Canada and the U.S. expand west, with the Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces and the founding of Las Vegas. 1905 is also the year in which Albert Einstein, at this time resident in Bern, publishes his four Annus Mirabilis papers, ''Annus Mirabilis'' papers in ''Annalen der Physik'' (Leipzig) (March 18, May 11, June 30 and September 27), laying the foundations for more than a century's study of theoretical physics. Events January * January 1 – In a major defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, Russian General Anatoly Stessel su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1840 Births
Events January–March * January 3 – One of the predecessor papers of the ''Herald Sun'' of Melbourne, Australia, ''The Port Phillip Herald'', is founded. * January 10 – Uniform Penny Post is introduced in the United Kingdom. * January 13 – The steamship ''Lexington'' burns and sinks in icy waters, four miles off the coast of Long Island; 139 die, only four survive. * January 19 – Captain Charles Wilkes' United States Exploring Expedition sights what becomes known as Wilkes Land in the southeast quadrant of Antarctica, claiming it for the United States, and providing evidence that Antarctica is a complete continent. * January 21 – Jules Dumont d'Urville discovers Adélie Land in Antarctica, claiming it for France. * January 22 – British colonists reach New Zealand, officially founding the settlement of Wellington. * February – The Rhodes blood libel is made against the Jews of Rhodes. * February 5 – Damascus Affair: The murder of a Capuchin friar and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Physicists
French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), a British rock band * "French" (episode), a live-action episode of ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'' * ''Française'' (film), a 2008 film * French Stewart (born 1964), American actor Other uses * French (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * French (tunic), a type of military jacket or tunic * French's, an American brand of mustard condiment * French (catheter scale), a unit of measurement * French Defence, a chess opening * French kiss, a type of kiss See also * France (other) * Franch, a surname * French Revolution (other) * French River (other), several rivers and other places * Frenching (other) Frenching may refer to: * Frenching (automobile), recessing or mou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julian Barbour
Julian Barbour (; born 1937) is a British physicist with research interests in quantum gravity and the history of science. Since receiving his PhD degree on the foundations of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity at the University of Cologne in 1968, Barbour has supported himself and his family without an academic position, working part-time as a translator (although he has an Oxford University email address and his research has been funded, for example by a FQXi grant). He resides near Banbury, England. Timeless physics His 1999 book '' The End of Time'' advances timeless physics: the controversial view that time, as we perceive it, does not exist as anything other than an illusion, and that a number of problems in physical theory arise from assuming that it does exist. He argues that we have no evidence of the past other than our memory of it, and no evidence of the future other than our belief in it. "Difference merely creates an illusion of time, with each indiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Émile Sarrau
Jacques Rose Ferdinand Émile Sarrau (Perpignan 24 June 1837 – Saint-Yrieix 10 May 1904) was a French chemist. He worked most of his career at the laboratory in the Dépôt Central des Poudres et Salpêtres (Central Depot for Powder and Saltpetre). He did research on explosive shock waves, the effects of explosives and he developed new explosives. The Mach number The Mach number (M or Ma), often only Mach, (; ) is a dimensionless quantity in fluid dynamics representing the ratio of flow velocity past a boundary to the local speed of sound. It is named after the Austrian physicist and philosopher Erns ... was sometimes called in French the Nombre de Sarrau (Sarrau number). References Further reading * * * 1837 births 1904 deaths 19th-century French chemists 19th-century French inventors Members of the French Academy of Sciences {{france-chemist-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marie Alfred Cornu
Marie Alfred Cornu (; 6 March 1841 – 12 April 1902) was a French physicist and professor of École polytechnique. The French generally refer to him as Alfred Cornu. The Cornu spiral, a graphical device for the computation of light intensities in Fresnel's model of near-field diffraction, is named after him. The spiral (or clothoid) is also used in geometric design of roads. The Cornu depolarizer is also named after him. Life Cornu was born at Orléans to François Cornu and Sophie Poinsellier. He was educated at the École polytechnique and the École des mines. Upon the death of Émile Verdet in 1866, Cornu became, in 1867, Verdet's successor as professor of experimental physics at the École polytechnique, where he remained throughout his life. Although he made various excursions into other branches of physical science, undertaking, for example, with Jean-Baptistin Baille about 1870 a repetition of Cavendish's experiment for determining the gravitational constant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Clerk Maxwell
James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and light as different manifestations of the same phenomenon. Maxwell's equations for electromagnetism achieved the Unification (physics)#Unification of magnetism, electricity, light and related radiation, second great unification in physics, where Unification (physics)#Unification of gravity and astronomy, the first one had been realised by Isaac Newton. Maxwell was also key in the creation of statistical mechanics. With the publication of "A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field" in 1865, Maxwell demonstrated that electric force, electric and magnetic fields travel through space as waves moving at the speed of light. He proposed that light is an undulation in the same medium that is the cause of electric and magnetic phenomena. (Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alfred-Marie Liénard
Alfred-Marie Liénard (2 April 1869 in Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ... – 29 April 1958 in Paris), was a French physicist and engineer. He is best known for his derivation of the Liénard–Wiechert potentials. From 1887 to 1889 Liénard was a student at the École Polytechnique and from 1889 to 1892 at the École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris, École des mines de Paris. From 1892 to 1895 he was a mining engineer in Valencia, Spain, Valencia, Marseille, and Angers. From 1895 to 1908 he was professor at the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne, École des Mines de Saint-Étienne and from 1908 to 1911 he was professor of electrical engineering at the École des Mines de Paris. In World War I he served in the French Army. Lié ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Morley
Edward Williams Morley (January 29, 1838 – February 24, 1923) was an American scientist known for his precise and accurate measurement of the atomic weight of oxygen, and for the Michelson–Morley experiment. Biography Morley was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Anna Clarissa Treat and the Reverend Sardis Brewster Morley. Both parents were of early colonial ancestry and of purely British origin. He grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut. During his childhood, he suffered much from ill health and was therefore educated by his father at home until the age of nineteen. In 1857 Morley entered Williams College at Williamstown, Massachusetts, his father's alma mater. He received his A.B. in 1860 and his master's degree in 1863. Around 1860 he gradually shifted his attention from chemistry, which fascinated him since he was child, to optics and astronomy. In 1860–61 he mounted a transit instrument, constructed a chronograph, and made the first accurate determination of the latitude o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
