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, 1819-1896), French physicist, was born in Paris. His earliest work was concerned with improvements in photographic processes. Later, in association with J. B. L. Foucault, he engaged 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), and in 1850 with E. Gounelle measured the speed of electricity.

He was involved in the discovery of the Doppler's effect^[2].

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 française in 1860 and of the Bureau des Longitudes in 1878. He died at Venteuil September 18, 1896.

[edit] References

^ Hellemans, Alexander; Bryan Bunch (1988). The Timetables of Science. New York, New York: Simon and Schuster, 317. ISBN 0671621300.
^ Houdas, Y (Apr 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.