André-Marie Ampère: Difference between revisions
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'''André-Marie Ampère''' (Lyons 20 January, 1775 – Marseilles 10 June, 1836) was a French physicist and mathematician. His most important contribution was [[Ampere's law]], which describes the relation between electric current and magnetic field. The unit of electric current [[Ampere (unit)|ampere]] is named after him. | '''André-Marie Ampère''' (Lyons 20 January, 1775 – Marseilles 10 June, 1836) was a French physicist and mathematician. His most important contribution was [[Ampere's law]], which describes the relation between electric current and magnetic field. The unit of electric current [[Ampere (unit)|ampere]] is named after him. | ||
==Biography== | ==Biography== | ||
Although André-Marie did not receive a formal education—he was tutored by his farther—he was a child prodigy. At the age of thirteen he submitted his first mathematical paper. This work attempted to solve the problem of constructing a line of the same length as an arc of a circle.<ref>''Sur la rectification d'un arc quelconque de cercle plus petit que la demi-circonférence'' [On the rectification of an arbitrary arc smaller than half the circumference of a circle], July 8, 1788 | Although André-Marie did not receive a formal education—he was tutored by his farther—he was a child prodigy. At the age of thirteen he submitted his first mathematical paper. This work attempted to solve the problem of constructing a line of the same length as an arc of a circle.<ref>A.-M. Ampère, ''Sur la rectification d'un arc quelconque de cercle plus petit que la demi-circonférence'' [On the rectification of an arbitrary arc smaller than half the circumference of a circle], July 8, 1788 | ||
</ref> However, the work was refused and André-Marie realized that he had to become better skilled in mathematics. So, he read [[d'Alembert]]'s article on the differential calculus in the [[Encyclopédie]] and undertook a study of works by [[Leonhard Euler]]. He started to read the 1788 edition of [[Lagrange]]'s ''Mécanique analytique'' and later claimed that he was able to repeat all the calculations in it. | </ref> However, the work was refused and André-Marie realized that he had to become better skilled in mathematics. So, he read [[d'Alembert]]'s article on the differential calculus in the [[Encyclopédie]] and undertook a study of works by [[Leonhard Euler]]. He started to read the 1788 edition of [[Lagrange]]'s ''Mécanique analytique'' and later claimed that he was able to repeat all the calculations in it. | ||
Two years after the [[French Revolution]] of 1789 Ampère's father was beheaded by the [[Jacobin]]s. | Two years after the [[French Revolution]] of 1789 Ampère's father was beheaded by the [[Jacobin]]s. | ||
The effect on André-Marie of his father's death was devastating. He gave up his studies of mathematics and only regained his taste for the sciences after he fell in love with his future wife, Julie. They married in 1799 and their son Jean-Jacques was born in 1800. In 1802 Ampère was appointed teacher of physics and chemistry in Bourg-en-Bresse at the Bourg École Centrale. This was a difficult time for Ampère since Julie became ill and he had to leave her behind in Lyons. Nowadays Lyons and Bourg are seen as close (about 60 km), but in the beginning of the nineteenth century travel was difficult. After his wife died in July 1803, Ampère decided to go to Paris. | The effect on André-Marie of his father's death was devastating. He gave up his studies of mathematics and only regained his taste for the sciences after he fell in love with his future wife, Julie Carron. They married in 1799 and their son Jean-Jacques was born in 1800. In 1802 Ampère was appointed teacher of physics and chemistry in Bourg-en-Bresse at the Bourg École Centrale. This was a difficult time for Ampère since Julie became ill and he had to leave her behind in Lyons. Nowadays Lyons and Bourg are seen as close (about 60 km), but in the beginning of the nineteenth century travel was difficult. While Ampère was in Bourg he found time to perform research in mathematics. He wrote ''Considérations sur la théorie mathématique du jeu'' [The Mathematical Theory of Games] in 1802. After his wife died in July 1803, Ampère decided to go to Paris. | ||
He found a job as répétiteur (tutor) in analysis at the École Polytechnique in 1804. Soon he embarked on a disastrous marriage with a girl named Jenny (1806). Before the birth of their daughter on 6 July 1807, the couple had separated. They were legally divorced in 1808 and Ampère was given custody of their daughter. Notwithstanding these private problems, Ampère was productive in mathematics. Among other things he wrote about variational calculus and about the rest term of the [[Taylor series]] (1806). | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
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1824 Professor für Physik am Collège de France in Paris | 1824 Professor für Physik am Collège de France in Paris | ||
MÉMOIRE | MÉMOIRE | ||
Revision as of 11:38, 12 February 2008
André-Marie Ampère (Lyons 20 January, 1775 – Marseilles 10 June, 1836) was a French physicist and mathematician. His most important contribution was Ampere's law, which describes the relation between electric current and magnetic field. The unit of electric current ampere is named after him.
Biography
Although André-Marie did not receive a formal education—he was tutored by his farther—he was a child prodigy. At the age of thirteen he submitted his first mathematical paper. This work attempted to solve the problem of constructing a line of the same length as an arc of a circle.[1] However, the work was refused and André-Marie realized that he had to become better skilled in mathematics. So, he read d'Alembert's article on the differential calculus in the Encyclopédie and undertook a study of works by Leonhard Euler. He started to read the 1788 edition of Lagrange's Mécanique analytique and later claimed that he was able to repeat all the calculations in it.
Two years after the French Revolution of 1789 Ampère's father was beheaded by the Jacobins. The effect on André-Marie of his father's death was devastating. He gave up his studies of mathematics and only regained his taste for the sciences after he fell in love with his future wife, Julie Carron. They married in 1799 and their son Jean-Jacques was born in 1800. In 1802 Ampère was appointed teacher of physics and chemistry in Bourg-en-Bresse at the Bourg École Centrale. This was a difficult time for Ampère since Julie became ill and he had to leave her behind in Lyons. Nowadays Lyons and Bourg are seen as close (about 60 km), but in the beginning of the nineteenth century travel was difficult. While Ampère was in Bourg he found time to perform research in mathematics. He wrote Considérations sur la théorie mathématique du jeu [The Mathematical Theory of Games] in 1802. After his wife died in July 1803, Ampère decided to go to Paris.
He found a job as répétiteur (tutor) in analysis at the École Polytechnique in 1804. Soon he embarked on a disastrous marriage with a girl named Jenny (1806). Before the birth of their daughter on 6 July 1807, the couple had separated. They were legally divorced in 1808 and Ampère was given custody of their daughter. Notwithstanding these private problems, Ampère was productive in mathematics. Among other things he wrote about variational calculus and about the rest term of the Taylor series (1806).
References
- ↑ A.-M. Ampère, Sur la rectification d'un arc quelconque de cercle plus petit que la demi-circonférence [On the rectification of an arbitrary arc smaller than half the circumference of a circle], July 8, 1788
Paul Jonathan Bruce, The History of Electromagnetic Theory, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 2005.
(To be continued)