Éleuthère Élie Nicolas Mascart (20 February 1837 – 24 August 1908) was a French

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 cau ...

. His research focused in

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of optical instruments, instruments that use or Photodetector, detect it. Optics usually describes t ...

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

magnetism Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that occur through a magnetic field, which allows objects to attract or repel each other. Because both electric currents and magnetic moments of elementary particles give rise to a magnetic field, ...

, and

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

Life

Mascart was born in Quarouble,

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

. Starting in 1858, he attended the

École normale supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

(rue d'Ulm), earning his '' agrégé-préparateur'' three years later. He acquired his doctoral degree in science in 1864. After serving at various posts in secondary education, in 1868 he moved to the

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

to become

Henri Victor Regnault Henri Victor Regnault (21 July 1810 – 19 January 1878) was a French chemist and physicist best known for his careful measurements of the thermal properties of gases. He was an early thermodynamicist and was mentor to William Thomson in ...

's assistant. Mascart was appointed to succeed Régnault as the tenured Régnault chair in 1872, which he held until his death. In 1878 he also became the first director of the Bureau Central Météorologique. He won the

Prix Bordin The Prix Bordin () is a series of prizes awarded annually by each of the five institutions making up the Institut Français since 1835. History The prize was created by Charles-Laurent Bordin, a notary in Paris from 1794 to 1820, who bequeathed 1 ...

of the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

in 1866 and the Grand prix of the

Académie des sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

in 1874. He was elected as a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1890. He was elected Perpetual Member (1884), Secretary, and in 1904 President, of the

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

, and in 1892, Foreign Member of the British Royal Society. Mascart was elected vice president of the British

Institution of Electrical Engineers The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and information technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. It began in 1871 as the Society of Tel ...

in 1900, the first non-Briton to hold the post. He was also a ''grand officier'' of the

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. Mascart founded

Supélec École supérieure d'électricité (, ), commonly known as Supélec (), was a French graduate school of engineering. It was one of the most prestigious grande écoles in France in the field of electrical engineering, energy and information scien ...

in 1894. Mascart's graduate student Henri Bénard carried out groundbreaking experiments in thermal convection, as part of his dissertation research, in Mascart's laboratory. Bénard's doctoral thesis was defended in 1901. Mascart died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

at the age of 71. Obituaries were published in the ''Journal de Physique théorique et appliquée'' and in ''Nature''.''Nature'', vol. 78, pp. 446-448 (1908). Mascart's son-in-law

Marcel Brillouin Louis Marcel Brillouin (; 19 December 1854 – 16 June 1948) was a French physicist and mathematician. He carried research in many realms of physics, including fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, geophysics, quantum mechan ...

and his grandson

Léon Brillouin Léon Nicolas Brillouin (; August 7, 1889 – October 4, 1969) was a French physicist. He made contributions to quantum mechanics, radio wave propagation in the atmosphere, solid-state physics, and information theory. Early life Brilloui ...

were also noted scientists. Cape Mascart is named for him.

Works

* E. Mascart, ''Recherches sur le spectre solaire ultra-violet et sur la détermination des longueurs d'onde'', Thunot, Paris, 1864. * E. Mascart, ''Éléments de Mécanique'', Paris, 1866, 9th ed. in 1910. * ** * E. Mascart and J. Joubert, ''A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism'', Translated by E. Atkinson, 2 volumes, T. De La Rue, London, 1883–1888. * E. Mascart, ''Notice sur les travaux scientifiques de M. Éleuthère Mascart'', Gauthier-Villars, Paris, 1884. * E. Mascart, ''The Age of Electricity'', Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, pp. 153–172, 1894. * E. Mascart, ''Traité d'Optique'', 3 volumes, Gauthier-Villars, Paris, 1889–1893. * ** * E. Mascart, ''Introduction à la physique expérimentale'', 1888. * E. Mascart, ''Traité de Magnétisme Terrestre'', Paris, 1900.

Bibliography

* P. Janet, ''La vie et les oeuvres d'Eleuthère Mascart'', Revue générales des sciences pures et appliquées, vol. 20, pp. 574–593, 1909. * P. Langevin, ''Eleuthère Mascart par Paul Langevin'', 1909. * R.H. Stuewer, ''Mascart, Éleuthère Élie Nicolas'', Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, vol. 9, pp. 154–156, 1981. * Electricians International Society, ''Travaux du Laboratoire central d'électricité'', tome I, 1884–1905. * Girolamo Ramunni and Michel Savio, ''Cent ans d'histoire de l'École Supérieure d'Electricité'', 1894–1994, 1995.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mascart, Eleuthere 1837 births 1908 deaths People from Nord (French department) École Normale Supérieure alumni French physicists French meteorologists Members of the French Academy of Sciences Academic staff of the Collège de France Foreign members of the Royal Society French optical physicists Magneticians Honorary Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Météo-France staff

Life

Works

Bibliography

See also

References

External links