Hippolyte Fizeau

Hippolyte Fizeau

Hippolyte Fizeau
Born September 23, 1819
Paris
Died September 18, 1896
Venteuil
Nationality French
Fields Physics
Known for Doppler Effect
Fizeau-Foucault apparatus
Capacitor

Armand Hippolyte Louis Fizeau (September 23, 1819 – September 18, 1896) was a French physicist.

Biography

Fizeau was born in Paris. His earliest work was concerned with improvements in photographic processes. Following suggestions by François Arago, Léon Foucault and Fizeau collaborated in a series of investigations on the interference of light and heat. In 1848, he predicted the redshifting of electromagnetic waves.[1]

In 1849 he published the first results obtained by his method for determining the speed of light (see Fizeau-Foucault apparatus).[2] Fizeau in 1864 made the first suggestion that the "length of a light wave be used as a length standard".[3]

He was involved in the discovery of the Doppler effect.[4]

In 1853 he described the use of the capacitor (then called the condenser) as a means to increase the efficiency of the induction coil. Subsequently he studied the thermal expansion of solids, and applied the phenomenon of interference of light to the measurement of the dilatations of crystals. He became a member of the Académie des Sciences in 1860 and of the Bureau des Longitudes in 1878. He died at Venteuil on September 18, 1896.

His name is one of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.

See also

References

  1. ^ Hellemans, Alexander; Bryan Bunch (1988). The Timetables of Science. New York, New York: Simon and Schuster. pp. 317. ISBN 0671621300. 
  2. ^ Poincaré, H. (Part 1, translated by F. K. V.); Vreeland, Frederick V. (Part 2) (1904). "Experiments of MM. Fizeau and Gounelle". Maxwell's Theory and Wireless Telegraphy. New York: McGraw Publishing Co.. pp. 52–55. http://books.google.com/books?id=BvVUAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA52. 
  3. ^ Physics part 1 Resnick/Halliday pg.5
  4. ^ Houdas, Y. (April 1991). "[Doppler, Buys-Ballot, Fizeau. Historical note on the discovery of the Doppler's effect]". Annales de cardiologie et d'angéiologie 40 (4): 209–13. PMID 2053764. 
Attribution