Charles Édouard Guillaume (; 15 February 1861 – 13 June 1938) was a Swiss

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 ...

who received the

Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...

in 1920 "for the service he had rendered to precision measurements in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

by his discovery of anomalies in nickel steel alloys". In 1919, he gave the fifth Guthrie Lecture at the

Institute of Physics The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based not-for-profit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, physics research, research and applied physics, application. It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

with the title "The Anomaly of the Nickel-Steels".

Personal life

Charles-Edouard Guillaume was born in Fleurier, Switzerland, on 15 February 1861. Guillaume received his early education in

Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital (political), capital of the cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel ...

, and obtained a doctoral degree in Physics at

ETH Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...

in 1883. Guillaume was married in 1888 to A. M. Taufflieb, with whom he had three children. He died on 13 June 1938 at

Sèvres Sèvres (, ) is a French Communes of France, commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a populatio ...

, aged 77.

Scientific career

Guillaume was head of the

International Bureau of Weights and Measures The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (, BIPM) is an List of intergovernmental organizations, intergovernmental organisation, through which its 64 member-states act on measurement standards in areas including chemistry, ionising radi ...

.Gould, p.201. He also worked with

Kristian Birkeland Kristian Olaf Bernhard Birkeland (born 13 December 1867 – 15 June 1917) was a Norway, Norwegian space physics, space physicist, inventor, and professor of physics at the University of Oslo, Royal Fredriks University in Oslo. He is best remembe ...

, serving at the Observatoire de Paris – Section de Meudon. He conducted several

experiment An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

s with thermostatic measurements at the

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

Nickel–steel alloy

Guillaume is known for his discovery of nickel–steel alloys he named

invar Invar, also known generically as FeNi36 (64FeNi in the US), is a nickel–iron alloy notable for its uniquely low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE or α). The name ''Invar'' comes from the word ''invariable'', referring to its relative lac ...

, elinvar and , also known as red platinum. Invar has a near-zero

coefficient of thermal expansion Thermal expansion is the tendency of matter to increase in length, area, or volume, changing its size and density, in response to an increase in temperature (usually excluding phase transitions). Substances usually contract with decreasing temp ...

, making it useful in constructing precision instruments whose dimensions need to remain constant in spite of varying temperature. Elinvar has a near-zero thermal coefficient of the

modulus of elasticity An elastic modulus (also known as modulus of elasticity (MOE)) is a quantity that describes an object's or substance's resistance to being deformed elastically (i.e., non-permanently) when a stress is applied to it. Definition The elastic modu ...

, making it useful in constructing instruments with springs that need to be unaffected by varying temperature, such as the

marine chronometer A marine chronometer is a precision timepiece that is carried on a ship and employed in the determination of the ship's position by celestial navigation. It is used to determine longitude by comparing Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), and the time at t ...

. Elinvar is also non-magnetic, which is a secondary useful property for antimagnetic watches.

Space radiation

Guillaume is also known for the ''earliest'' estimation of the "radiation of the stars” in his 1896 article ("The Temperature of Space"). This publication made him a pioneer in plasma cosmology, the study of conditions far from any particular star. The concept was later known as the

Cosmic microwave background The cosmic microwave background (CMB, CMBR), or relic radiation, is microwave radiation that fills all space in the observable universe. With a standard optical telescope, the background space between stars and galaxies is almost completely dar ...

.Guillaume, C.-É., 1896, ''La Nature'' 24, series 2, p. 234, cited i
"History of the 2.7 K Temperature Prior to Penzias and Wilson"
He was one of the first people in history to estimate the temperature of space, as 5–6 K. Charles Edouard Guillaume

Horology

As the son of a Swiss

horologist Chronometry or horology () is the science studying the measurement of time and timekeeping. Chronometry enables the establishment of standard measurements of time, which have applications in a broad range of social and scientific areas. ''Hor ...

, Guillaume took an interest in marine chronometers. For use as the compensation balance he developed a slight variation of the invar alloy which had a negative quadratic coefficient of expansion. The purpose of doing this was to eliminate the "middle-temperature" error of the balance wheel. The ''Guillaume balance'' (a type of

balance wheel A balance wheel, or balance, is the timekeeping device used in mechanical watches and small clocks, analogous to the pendulum in a pendulum clock. It is a weighted wheel that rotates back and forth, being returned toward its center position b ...

) in

horology Chronometry or horology () is the science studying the measurement of time and timekeeping. Chronometry enables the establishment of standard measurements of time, which have applications in a broad range of social and scientific areas. ''Hor ...

is named after him.

Publications

* 1886: ''Études thermométriques'' (Studies on Thermometry) * 1889
Traité de thermométrie de Precision
(Treatise on Thermometry) via

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

* 1894: ''Unités et Étalons'' (Units and Standards) * 1896
Les rayons X et la Photographie a traves les corps opaques
(X-Rays) via Internet Archive * 1896: * 1898: ''Recherches sur le nickel et ses alliages'' (Investigations on Nickel and its Alloys) * 1899: ''La vie de la matière'' (The Life of Matter) * 1902: La Convention du Mètre et le Bureau international des Poids et Mesures (Metrical Convention and the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) * 1904
Les applications des aciers au nickel
(Applications of Nickel-Steels) via Internet Archive * 1907: ''Des états de la matière'' (States of Matter) * 1909: ''Initiation à la Mécanique'' (Introduction to Mechanics
Hathi Trust record
* 1913: 907''Les récents progrès du système métrique'' (Recent progress in the Metric System)

Notes

References

* Nobel Lectures, Physics 1901–1921,
Charles-Edouard Guillaume
– Biography". Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam. * Rupert Thomas Gould (1960) ''The Marine Chronometer: its history and development'', Holland Press.
C. E. Guillaume
in

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

1934

External links

* * * including the Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1920 ''Invar and Elinvar'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Guillaume, Charles Edouard 1861 births 1938 deaths 20th-century Swiss physicists People from Val-de-Travers District Experimental physicists ETH Zurich alumni Nobel laureates in Physics Swiss Nobel laureates 19th-century Swiss physicists Swiss Protestants