Macedonio Melloni facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Macedonio Melloni
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| Born | 11 April 1798 |
| Died | 11 August 1854 (aged 56) Portici
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| Nationality | Italian |
| Known for | radiant heat |
| Awards | Rumford Medal (1834) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
Macedonio Melloni (born April 11, 1798 – died August 11, 1854) was an Italian physicist. He is well-known for proving that radiant heat behaves very similarly to light.
Melloni's Life Story
Macedonio Melloni was born in Parma, Italy. In 1824, he became a professor at the University of Parma. However, he had to leave Italy and go to France. This happened after he took part in a political uprising in 1831.
In 1839, Melloni moved to Naples. Soon after, he became the director of the Vesuvius Observatory. He held this important job until 1848. In 1845, he was chosen as a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Melloni died in Portici, near Naples. He was 56 years old and passed away from a disease called cholera.
His Amazing Discoveries in Physics
Melloni's biggest fame comes from his work on radiant heat. He made many important discoveries using a special tool called a thermomultiplier. This tool combined a thermopile (which measures heat) and a galvanometer (which measures electric current).
In 1831, a scientist named Thomas Johann Seebeck discovered thermoelectricity. Soon after, Melloni and Leopoldo Nobili used the thermomultiplier. They used it to study how different materials let heat pass through them. This heat is now called black-body radiation.
Melloni used a setup with special lenses and mirrors, like an optical bench. He also used heat sources, such as Locatelli's lamp and Leslie's cube. With these tools, he showed that radiant heat could be reflected, refracted, and polarized. This was a big deal because these are the same ways light behaves.
He also studied other interesting topics. These included the magnetism of rocks, electrostatic induction (how electric charges affect each other), and photography. His most important book, La thermocrose au la coloration calorifique, was not finished when he died.
Awards and Recognition
Melloni received several important awards for his scientific work:
- Rumford Medal from the Royal Society (1834)
- Correspondent of the Académie des Sciences (1835)
- Foreign member of the Royal Society (1839)
See also
In Spanish: Macedonio Melloni para niños
