Charles François de Cisternay du Fay | |
---|---|
Born | Paris | 14 September 1698
Died | 16 July 1739 Paris | (aged 40)
Nationality | French |
Known for | electric charge |
Scientific career | |
Fields | chemistry |
Charles François de Cisternay du Fay (14 September 1698 – 16 July 1739) was a French chemist and superintendent of the Jardin du Roi.
He discovered the existence of two types of electricity and named them " vitreous" and " resinous" (later known as positive and negative charge respectively). He noted the difference between conductors and insulators, calling them 'electrics' and 'non-electrics' for their ability to produce contact electrification. He also discovered that alike-charged objects would repel each other and that unlike-charged objects attract. He also disproved certain misconceptions regarding electric charge, such as that of Dr. Stephen Gray who believed that electric properties of a body depended on its colour. Du Fay's observations on electricity were reported in a paper written in December 1733 and printed in Volume 38 of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1734. He became a member of the French Academy of Sciences in 1723.
Du Fay died of smallpox in 1739. [1]
All Du Fay's publications appeared in the journal Histoire de l'Académie Royale des Sciences: avec les mémoires de mathématique & de physique pour les mêmes années
Charles François de Cisternay du Fay | |
---|---|
Born | Paris | 14 September 1698
Died | 16 July 1739 Paris | (aged 40)
Nationality | French |
Known for | electric charge |
Scientific career | |
Fields | chemistry |
Charles François de Cisternay du Fay (14 September 1698 – 16 July 1739) was a French chemist and superintendent of the Jardin du Roi.
He discovered the existence of two types of electricity and named them " vitreous" and " resinous" (later known as positive and negative charge respectively). He noted the difference between conductors and insulators, calling them 'electrics' and 'non-electrics' for their ability to produce contact electrification. He also discovered that alike-charged objects would repel each other and that unlike-charged objects attract. He also disproved certain misconceptions regarding electric charge, such as that of Dr. Stephen Gray who believed that electric properties of a body depended on its colour. Du Fay's observations on electricity were reported in a paper written in December 1733 and printed in Volume 38 of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1734. He became a member of the French Academy of Sciences in 1723.
Du Fay died of smallpox in 1739. [1]
All Du Fay's publications appeared in the journal Histoire de l'Académie Royale des Sciences: avec les mémoires de mathématique & de physique pour les mêmes années