Pierre-Gilles de Gennes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes
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de Gennes in 2006
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| Born | 24 October 1932 |
| Died | 18 May 2007 (aged 74) Orsay, France
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| Nationality | French |
| Alma mater | École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay University |
| Known for | Being the founder of soft matter physics Polymer physics Reptation Liquid crystalline elastomer Bogoliubov–DeGennes equation |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics Soft matter Superconductivity |
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- Onsager Lecture (1997)}}
- Eringen Medal (1998)}}
| children = 7, including Claire Wyart }} Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (born October 24, 1932 – died May 18, 2007) was a brilliant French scientist. He won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1991 for his amazing work. He is often called the "founder of soft matter physics."
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Early Life and Learning
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes was born in Paris, France. He was taught at home until he was 12 years old. By the time he was 13, he loved reading grown-up books and visiting museums.
Later, de Gennes studied at the École normale supérieure, a very famous school in France. After finishing there in 1955, he became a research engineer. He worked at the CEA Saclay center, studying things like neutron scattering and magnetism. He earned his Ph.D. (a high-level university degree) in 1957 from the University of Paris.
Career and Scientific Discoveries
In 1959, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes went to the University of California, Berkeley for more research. After serving in the French Navy for a bit, he became a professor in Orsay, France, in 1961. There, he started a group that studied superconductors. These are special materials that can carry electricity with no resistance.
Around 1968, he changed his focus to liquid crystals. Liquid crystals are materials that flow like liquids but have some order like solid crystals. You can find them in the screens of your phones and TVs!
In 1971, he became a professor at the Collège de France. He also worked on polymer physics. Polymers are long chains of molecules, like plastics or DNA. From 1980 onwards, he became very interested in how surfaces interact. This included how liquids spread on surfaces (wetting) and how things stick together (adhesion).
He also explored how granular materials behave. Think of sand or sugar – these are granular materials. He even looked into how memory works in the brain.
Awards and Special Recognitions
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes received many important awards for his scientific work. In 1968, he was given the Fernand Holweck Medal and Prize.
He also won the Harvey Prize, the Lorentz Medal, and the Wolf Prize in 1988 and 1990. The biggest honor came in 1991 when he received the Nobel Prize in Physics. He won this prize for showing that ideas used to study simple materials could also be used to understand more complex materials, like liquid crystals and polymers.
From 1976 until he retired in 2002, he was the director of the ESPCI Paris, a top engineering school.
The Royal Society of Chemistry gives out the De Gennes Prize every two years to honor him. He was also made a Foreign Member of the Royal Society in 1984.
Personal Life
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes was married to Anne-Marie Rouet from 1954 until his death. They had three children. He also had four other children, including Claire Wyart, who is also a scientist.
His friends and colleagues remembered him as a charming person with a great sense of humor. They said he was an inspiring teacher and loved Shakespeare. He was also known for being an expert skier!
In 2003, he was one of 22 Nobel Prize winners who signed the Humanist Manifesto. This is a document that shares ideas about human values and ethics.
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes passed away on May 18, 2007. When he died, many people shared messages and tributes about his amazing life and work.
He once famously said about nuclear fusion, "We say that we will put the Sun into a box. The idea is pretty. The problem is, we don't know how to make the box." This shows his clever and practical way of thinking about big scientific challenges.
See also
In Spanish: Pierre-Gilles de Gennes para niños
