Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval (8 June 1851 – 31 December 1940) was a French

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

and inventor of the moving-coil

D'Arsonval galvanometer A galvanometer is an electromechanical measuring instrument for electric current. Early galvanometers were uncalibrated, but improved versions, called ammeters, were calibrated and could measure the flow of current more precisely. A galvanom ...

and the

thermocouple A thermocouple, also known as a "thermoelectrical thermometer", is an electrical device consisting of two dissimilar electrical conductors forming an electrical junction. A thermocouple produces a temperature-dependent voltage as a result of the ...

ammeter An ammeter (abbreviation of ''Ampere meter'') is an instrument used to measure the current in a circuit. Electric currents are measured in amperes (A), hence the name. For direct measurement, the ammeter is connected in series with the circuit ...

. D'Arsonval was an important contributor to the emerging field of

electrophysiology Electrophysiology (from Greek , ''ēlektron'', "amber" etymology of "electron"">Electron#Etymology">etymology of "electron" , ''physis'', "nature, origin"; and , '' -logia'') is the branch of physiology that studies the electrical properties of b ...

, the study of the effects of

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

biological organism In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and fungi; ...

s, in the nineteenth century.

Life

D'Arsonval was born in the Château de la Borie, in

La Porcherie La Porcherie (; oc, La Porcharia) is a commune in the Haute-Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in west-central France. La Porcherie station has rail connections to Brive-la-Gaillarde and Limoges. Notable people * Jacques-Arsèn ...

, Haute Vienne, France. He studied medicine in Limoges and Paris and obtained his medical degree in 1877. From 1873 to 1878 he was assistant to

Claude Bernard Claude Bernard (; 12 July 1813 – 10 February 1878) was a French physiologist. Historian I. Bernard Cohen of Harvard University called Bernard "one of the greatest of all men of science". He originated the term ''milieu intérieur'', and the a ...

, one of the founders of experimental

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

. After Bernard’s death he assisted Charles-Edouard Brown-Séquard (1817-1894), giving his lectures, and when Brown-Séquard died in 1894 replaced him as professor at

College de France A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering v ...

. Influenced by Bernard, D'Arsonval decided to devote his life to research. In 1892, he became director of the new laboratory of biophysics at the College de France and continued in that post until 1910. His main contributions were in

. From 1889 D'Arsonval did the first research on the physiological effects of

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...

on the body. He discovered that currents with frequency over 5,000 Hz did not cause the muscular contractions and nerve stimulation effects of

electric shock Electrical injury is a physiological reaction caused by electric current passing through the body. The injury depends on the density of the current, tissue resistance and duration of contact. Very small currents may be imperceptible or produce ...

. Instead they seemed to have beneficial effects. He pioneered the therapeutic application of high frequency current to the body, founding the field of ''

electrotherapy Electrotherapy is the use of electrical energy as a medical treatment. In medicine, the term ''electrotherapy'' can apply to a variety of treatments, including the use of electrical devices such as deep brain stimulators for neurological dise ...

''. He developed a spark-excited resonant circuit to generate currents of 0.5-2 MHz called "D'Arsonval currents" for therapy, which became known as "D'Arsonvalization". It was later used for

diathermy Diathermy is electrically induced heat or the use of high-frequency electromagnetic currents as a form of physical therapy and in surgical procedures. The earliest observations on the reactions of high-frequency electromagnetic currents upon the ...

. In 1881, d'Arsonval proposed tapping the thermal energy of the ocean. d'Arsonval's student,

Georges Claude Georges Claude (24 September 187023 May 1960) was a French engineer and inventor. He is noted for his early work on the industrial liquefaction of air, for the invention and commercialization of neon lighting, and for a large experiment on genera ...

, built the first OTEC plant in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

in 1930. He was awarded the

Prix Montyon The Montyon Prize (french: Prix Montyon) is a series of prizes awarded annually by the French Academy of Sciences and the Académie française. They are endowed by the French benefactor Baron de Montyon. History Prior to the start of the French ...

in 1882 and was appointed a Chevalier of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

in 1884, with Grand Cross in 1931.Lance Day, Ian McNeil, '' Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology'' Routledge, 2003 pp. 45–46

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20040419113144/http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/~eugeniik/history/arsonval.html 1851 births 1940 deaths Collège de France faculty Members of the French Academy of Sciences 19th-century French inventors French physiologists French physicists French biophysicists {{France-physicist-stub

Life

See also

References

Further reading

External links