Pierre Antoine Favre (20 February 1813 – 17 February 1880) was a French physician and chemist who specialized in conducting experiments in

thermochemistry Thermochemistry is the study of the heat energy which is associated with chemical reactions and/or phase changes such as melting and boiling. A reaction may release or absorb energy, and a phase change may do the same. Thermochemistry focuses on ...

. In his work from 1852 along with Johann T. Silberman on heat produced by chemical reactions, he popularized the use of the unit "

calorie The calorie is a unit of energy. For historical reasons, two main definitions of "calorie" are in wide use. The large calorie, food calorie, or kilogram calorie was originally defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of on ...

Biography

Favre was born in

Lyons Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...

on February 20, 1813. He received a medical degree from

Paris University , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

in 1835. He shifted to study chemistry after being inspired by Jean Dumas' lectures and joined

Eugene Peligot Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

to study uranium salts. He was one of the two chemists who successfully demonstrated that the heats of the acid and bases were the sum of two constant terms, one dependent on the acid while the other on the bases. Favre then studied physiological chemistry under Louis Jecker, examining the composition of human sweat, forty litres of which he collected. One of his most important works was his investigation on the physiological chemistry of individuals who suffered from scorbutic complaints. Favre took up a teaching position in chemistry. In 1843 he identified the atomic weight of zinc. His major contribution from 1844 to 1849 was in the measurement of heat evolved in chemical reactions. It has been claimed that he coined the term "calorie" although he only adopted the unit and made it more popular among French chemists. He is noted for his calometric studies of heat reactions, such as his examination of the heat of the reaction of gunpowder explosion. He joined the science faculty at

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

in 1856 becoming dean in 1872 but retired in 1878 due to poor health.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Favre, Pierre-Antoine 1813 births 1880 deaths 19th-century French chemists Scientists from Lyon