Pierre Chappuis (physicist)
{{Short description|Swiss physicist (1855–1916)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Pierre Chappuis
| native_name =
| image = UBH Portr BS Chappuis P 1855 1 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Chappuis, c. 1910
| birth_date = 9 October 1855
| birth_place = Bremblens, Switzerland
| death_date = 15 February 1916
| death_place = Basel, Switzerland
| fields = Physics
| thesis_title = Ueber die Verdichtung der Gase auf Glasoberflächen
| thesis_year = 1880
| children = 7
}}
Pierre Chappuis (9 October 1855, in Bremblens – 15 February 1916, in Basel) was a Swiss physicist known for his work on the hydrogen thermometer and the determination of various physical constants.
Biography
His parents were the philosopher and farmer Jean Louis Chappuis and Louise Charlotte Henriette Roux.{{Cite web |last=Diehl |first=Peter |date= |title=Pierre Chappuis |url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/it/articles/028798/2005-02-21/}}
He initially studied in Basel. From 1877 he was in Leipzig, where he obtained his doctorate 2 years later with the thesis "On the condensation of gases on the surface of glass".{{Cite journal |last=Bichat |first=E. |date=1880 |title=PIERRE CHAPPUIS. — Ueber die Verdichtung der Gase auf Glasoberflächen (Sur la condensation des gaz à la surface du verre); Annalen der Physik und Chemie, nouvelle série, t. VIII, p. 1 et 671 |url=https://jphystap.journaldephysique.org/articles/jphystap/abs/1880/01/jphystap_1880__9__142_0/jphystap_1880__9__142_0.html |journal=Journal de Physique Théorique et Appliquée |language=fr |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=142–143 |doi=10.1051/jphystap:018800090014200 |issn=0368-3893|url-access=subscription }}
In 1880 he worked at the Institute of Physics in Basel. From 1882 to 1902 he was attached to the Bureau international des poids et mesures in Sèvres, where he distinguished himself for his ability to determine the values of various physical constants, such as the boiling point of sulfur.{{Cite web |title=Chappuis, Pierre - Enciclopedia |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/pierre-chappuis/ |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=Treccani |language=it}}
His work on thermometers was so important that the Celsius scale of his hydrogen thermometer was adopted as the international standard on 15 October 1887.{{Cite journal |last=Cottington |first=By Ian E. |date=1987-10-01 |title=High Temperature Gas Thermometry and the Platinum Metals: Some Aspects of Nineteenth Century Developments |url=https://technology.matthey.com/content/journals/10.1595/003214087X314196207 |journal=Platinum Metals Review |language=en |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=196–207 |doi=10.1595/003214087X314196207 |issn=0032-1400|url-access=subscription }}
In 1889 Chappuis married Esther Julie Sarasin (1863–1917), daughter of the Basel entrepreneur and local politician Rudolf Sarasin (1831–1905) with whom he had seven children.{{Cite web |title=SaH |url=https://www.stroux.org/patriz_f/stSa_f/SaH_r.pdf |website=stroux.org}}{{Cite web |title=- results/titledata |url=https://swb.bsz-bw.de/DB=2.114//CMD?ACT=SRCHA&IKT=2011&TRM=gnd:117654744&REC=2&COOKIE=Us998,Pbszgast,I2017,B20728+,SY,NRecherche-DB,D2.114,E56265ac2-0,A,H,R95.248.226.112,FY |access-date=2024-11-09 |website=swb.bsz-bw.de}}
From 1902 he returned to Basel for family reasons and ran his own private laboratory there. He collaborated with the Swiss Federal Office of Metrology, contributing to the drafting of the foundations for international treaties on the metric system. He held various positions in Swiss scientific societies, such as the presidency of the National Research Society in Basel from 1904 to 1906.
He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1902, 1903 and 1904.{{Cite web |last=Mehlin |first=Hans |date=2024-05-21 |title=Nomination%20Archive |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/archive/show_people.php?id=1722 |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=NobelPrize.org |language=en-US}}
Pierre Chappuis is buried in the Wolfgottesacker cemetery in Basel.
Honours
- Knight of the Legion of Honor.
- Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy.
Notes
Bibliography
- {{Cite web |author=Diehl |first=Peter |date=21 February 2005 |title=Pierre Chappuis |url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/it/articles/028798/2005-02-21/ |access-date=4 November 2024}}
- {{Treccani|pierre-chappuis|Chappuis, Pierre}}
- {{Cite journal |last=Cottington |first=Ian E. |year=1987 |title=High Temperature Gas Thermometry and the Platinum Metals |url=https://technology.matthey.com/content/journals/10.1595/003214087X314196207 |journal=Platinum Metals Review |language=English |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=196–207 |doi=10.1595/003214087X314196207 |issn=0032-1400 |id=I.E.Cottington|url-access=subscription }}
- {{Cite web |title=Chappuis, Pierre Eugene |url=https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd117654744.html?language=en |website=Deutsche Biographie |language=de}}
External links
{{Sister project links}}
- {{Cite web |title=Pierre Chappuis |url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/it/articles/028798/2005-02-21/ |language=de, fr, it}}
{{Authority control}}{{Portal|Biography|Science|Physics|Switzerland
}}
Category:20th-century Swiss people
Category:19th-century Swiss physicists
Category:20th-century physicists