Éleuthère Mascart facts for kids
Éleuthère Élie Nicolas Mascart (born February 20, 1837 – died August 24, 1908) was an important French scientist. He was a physicist who studied many things, including how light works (called optics), electricity, magnetism, and even the weather (called meteorology).
A Scientist's Life
Mascart was born in a town called Quarouble in France. In 1858, he started studying at a famous school in Paris, the École normale supérieure. This school trains future teachers and researchers.
He earned his science doctorate degree in 1864. After working in different teaching jobs, he moved to the Collège de France in 1868. There, he became an assistant to another famous scientist, Henri Victor Regnault.
In 1872, Mascart took over Regnault's important position at the Collège de France. He held this job until he passed away. In 1878, he also became the first director of the Central Meteorological Bureau. This was a new office that studied the weather.
Mascart won several important awards for his scientific work. He received the Bordin Prize in 1866 and the Grand Prix from the French Academy of Sciences in 1874. He also became a member of many important scientific groups around the world.
He was a permanent member, secretary, and later president of the French Académie des Sciences. In 1892, he became a foreign member of the British Royal Society. He was even the first non-British person to be a vice president of the British Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1900.
Mascart also helped start a famous engineering school called Supélec in 1894.
One of Mascart's students, Henri Bénard, did amazing experiments on how heat moves in liquids and gases (called thermal convection) in Mascart's lab. Bénard finished his important research in 1901.
Éleuthère Mascart died in Paris when he was 71 years old. His son-in-law, Marcel Brillouin, and his grandson, Léon Brillouin, also became well-known scientists.
There is even a place named after him, Cape Mascart.
What Mascart Studied
Éleuthère Mascart wrote many important books and papers about his scientific discoveries. He explored different areas of physics:
- He studied the invisible parts of the light spectrum, especially the ultraviolet light. He also worked on measuring the exact lengths of light waves.
- He wrote books about mechanics, which is the study of how things move and the forces that make them move.
- He co-wrote a detailed book about electricity and magnetism. This book helped explain how these forces work.
- Mascart also wrote a big book about optics, which is the study of light and how it behaves.
- He explored experimental physics, which is about doing experiments to understand how the world works.
- He wrote about terrestrial magnetism, which is the study of Earth's own magnetic field.
See also
In Spanish: Éleuthère Mascart para niños
- Fizeau experiment
