Illustrious Chemist - André-marie Ampère

López 1 Alexis Omar López Mr. Michael Kesten Chemistry I Honors 28 October 2009 Extra Credit: Illustrious Chemists - André-Marie Ampère Physicist, natural philosopher, and mathematician: what more can a regular man be? Not André-Marie Ampère. André is a well renowned chemist who made numerous contributions to the scientific community of modern day. He was natural of Lyon, France, and was born on January 22, 1775. In addition, he is attributed with many discoveries and developments in the field of electrodynamics. Ampère led a life full of discoveries and intellectual stimulation that many could never even dream of achieving. Of his many inventions, he is most known for his innovative creation—the astatic needle which is a “a critical component of the modern astatis galvanometer” and also demonstrating that magnetic fields are produced when “two parallel wires are charged with electricity,” (National Imports). As a result, he is often endorsed as the discoverer of electromagnetism, which is the “physics of electricity and magnetism,” (American Heritage Dictionary). The chemist’s personal life was full of great moments as well as disillusionments. As a result of the French Revolution, Ampère lost his father, who was beheaded 1793. This “sudden loss” as anyone could imagine “was a terrible shock to” him; therefore, his studies ceased for a while, although he later resumed them. Gladly, in 1799 he married Julie Carron who bore his son Jean-Jacques Ampère. In regards to his scholar life, Ampère taught mathematics in Bourg. Despite this, he continued his research in chemistry and physics. Later, he argued about the “nature of light”

López 2 favoring the idea that it traveled in wave form. He also put forth the idea “fluorine, [unknown at the time] was combined with hydrogen in an acid that had first been discovered by Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele.” André Marie Ampere’s “mathematical endeavors with partial differential equations,” (Magnet Lab), granted him access to the National Institute of Sciences in 1814 which is an honor which allowed him to make known his ideas and works. After various years passed, Ampère’s brilliance, as perceived by the scientific community, kept on escalating as his theories began to fall into place. After Danish scientist Hans Christian Ørsted coincidentally discovered that the current in a wire can affect the orientation of a magnetized needle, Ampère interest in the field hiked leading to “significant contributions [by him] in the nascent field of electromagnetics,” (National High Magnetic Field Laboratory). Ampère’s “most significant scholarly paper on the subject of electricity and magnetism” is the Memoir on the Mathematical Theory of Electrodynamic Phenomena, published in 1826. Regrettably, Ampère died June 10, 1836 in Marseilles, France. He was buried in the Montmartre Cemetery in Paris. In honor of his accomplishments and legacy, the ampere–the unit for measuring electric current–was named after him, and thus, “inspiring research and discoveries” by scientists including Faraday, Weber, Thomson, and Maxwell, (National Imports). Overall, André-Marie Ampère was a Physicist, natural philosopher, and mathematician. He was also an illustrious chemist who made numerous contributions to the scientific community and natural of Lyon, France. He contributed a copious amount of discoveries and developments while leading a sad, yet full life of discoveries and intellectual stimulation that many could never even dream of achieving.

López 3 Works Cited Magnet Lab. "André-Marie Ampère (1775-1836)." National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (2009): n. pag. Web. 21 Oct 2009. . National Imports. "André-Marie Ampère." National Imports Magnetic Products Division (2007): Web. 21 Oct 2009. . The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. < http://dictionary.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/electromagnetism>