Claude Allègre facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Claude Allègre
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Allègre in 2009
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| Minister of National Education | |
| In office 4 June 1997 – 28 March 2000 |
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| President | Jacques Chirac |
| Prime Minister | Lionel Jospin |
| Preceded by | François Bayrou |
| Succeeded by | Jack Lang |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Claude Jean Allègre
31 March 1937 Paris, France |
| Died | 4 January 2025 (aged 87) Paris, France |
| Political party | PS (1973–2008) |
| Education | Lycée Charlemagne |
Claude Allègre (born March 31, 1937 – died January 4, 2025) was a well-known French scientist and politician. He was famous for his work in geochemistry, which is the study of the Earth's chemistry. He won many important awards for his scientific discoveries. Allègre also served as the Minister of Education in France from 1997 to 2000.
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Early Life and Family
Claude Allègre was born in Paris, France, on March 31, 1937. He was the oldest of four children in his family. His father was a professor who taught natural sciences. His mother was a headteacher at a school. Allègre's family came from the Hérault region in France.
Scientific Discoveries and Research
Claude Allègre's main scientific work was in geochemistry. This field looks at the chemical makeup of the Earth. He started this research for his PhD, focusing on how to figure out the age of rocks. He used a method called radiometric dating, which measures tiny changes in elements inside rocks.
In 1965, Allègre went to the California Institute of Technology in the United States. There, he learned new ways to measure isotopes in rocks very precisely. Isotopes are different forms of the same element. When he returned to France, he built his own lab. Over the next three years, he made many important measurements. He finished his PhD in 1967.
From 1976 to 1986, he led the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP). This is a famous research center for Earth sciences.
Understanding Earth's History
For the next 30 years, Allègre and his team developed new methods. They could measure isotopes in rocks and minerals with amazing accuracy. This helped them learn more about the Earth's age and how its outer layers changed over time.
They also studied meteorites. By dating meteorites, they found new clues about the early history of our Solar System. Allègre even created a new field called 'chemical geodynamics'. This field combines chemistry and physics to understand how the Earth has changed chemically over millions of years. This includes how the Earth's core formed and how its crust grew.
Allègre's work greatly impacted the study of geochemistry. He received many awards and was chosen to join important science groups. These included the US National Academy of Sciences in 1985 and the Royal Society in 2002. He also won the Crafoord Prize in 1986 for his pioneering work in isotope geology.
Organizing Science
Allègre also helped organize geological and geochemical sciences in Europe. In 1981, he became the first president of the European Union of Geosciences (EUG). This group helped scientists across Europe share their research.
He also helped start the annual 'Goldschmidt Conferences'. These are big international meetings for geochemistry scientists. From 1992 to 1997, Allègre was the director of France's national geological survey. This organization is called the Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières.
In 2004, he received an award for his great service to the geochemistry field. A fellow scientist, Al Hofmann, said that Allègre's actions were always guided by smart, long-term thinking.
Books and Publications
Claude Allègre wrote many scientific papers during his career. He also wrote several science books and textbooks, including:
- Introduction to geochemistry (1974)
- Isotope geology (2008)
He also wrote popular science books for a wider audience. These books explained topics like the history of Earth and the idea of plate tectonics. Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth's outer shell is made of large, moving plates. His 1988 book, The behaviour of the Earth, was praised for showing how French scientists contributed to the understanding of plate tectonics.
Political Career
Claude Allègre was a member of the French Socialist Party. He is widely known for his time as the Minister of Education in France. He held this position from June 4, 1997, to March 2000. During his time as minister, he made some changes that were not popular with teachers.
Before the 2007 French presidential election, he supported different candidates. He eventually became close to the conservative president Nicolas Sarkozy.
Views on Climate Change
In 2006, Claude Allègre wrote an article where he discussed global warming. He suggested that some changes, like the melting snow on Mount Kilimanjaro, might be due to natural causes. He said that "the cause of this climate change is unknown." This was a change from his earlier view in 1987. Back then, he had written that burning fossil fuels increased carbon dioxide in the air, which raised global temperatures.
Allègre also claimed that people who agreed with the main scientific view on global warming were motivated by money. He said that "the ecology of helpless protesting has become a very lucrative business for some people!"
In 2009, there was talk that Allègre might become a minister in President Sarkozy's government. Nicolas Hulot, an environmental activist, said that if Allègre became a minister, it would be a bad sign. He felt it would go against the warnings from the 2,500 scientists of the IPCC about climate change.
In 2010, over 500 French researchers asked the Science Minister to dismiss Allègre's book L'imposture climatique. They said the book had many factual mistakes and distortions of data. Allègre called their petition "useless and stupid."
Later Life and Passing
In 2013, Claude Allègre had a heart attack while at a science conference in Chile. He was taken to the hospital and recovered. He passed away in Paris on January 4, 2025, at the age of 87.
Awards and Honors
- Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences (1985)
- V. M. Goldschmidt Award (1986)
- Crafoord Prize for geology (1986)
- Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1987)
- Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London (1987)
- Member of the American Philosophical Society (1992)
- Gold Medal of the CNRS (1994)
- French Academy of Sciences (1995)
- William Bowie Medal, American Geophysical Union (1995)
- Arthur Holmes Medal, European Geosciences Union (1995)
- Honorary Doctorate, Université Libre de Bruxelles (1998)
- Foreign Member, Royal Society (2002)
- Atoms for Peace prize (2011)
National Honors
- Commander, Legion of Honour (2000)
- Commander, Ordre des Palmes académiques (2000)
See Also
- Politics of France
