Edmund Edward Fournier d'Albe (1868 – 29 June 1933, St. Albans, UK) was an Irish physicist, astrophysicist and chemist. He was a university professor and distinguished himself in the study and popularization of

electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge via electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is the dominant force in the interacti ...

, as well as the beginnings of

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

. He also experimented with improving radio and television. In addition, he was interested in questions about

immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some species possess "biological immortality" due to an apparent lack of the Hayflick limit. From at least the time of the Ancient Mesopotamian religion, ancient Mesopotamians, there has been a con ...

and held interests in

parapsychology Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, teleportation, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry (paranormal), psychometry) and other paranormal cla ...

and

spiritualism Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at leas ...

.Brock, William Hodson. (2008). ''William Crookes (1832–1919) and the Commercialization of Science''. Ashgate. pp. 15-16. He was one of the originators of

pan-Celticism Pan-Celticism (, Scottish Gaelic: ''Pan-Cheilteachas'', Breton: ''Pan-Keltaidd'', Welsh: ''Pan-Geltaidd'', Cornish: ''Pan-Keltaidh'', Manx: ''Pan-Cheltaghys''), also known as Celticism or Celtic nationalism, is a political, social and cultura ...

Life and career

Fournier d'Albe was from a French

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

family which emigrated to Ireland after the

revocation of the Edict of Nantes The Edict of Fontainebleau (18 October 1685, published 22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to pra ...

in 1685. He was born in London in 1868. His father, Edward Herman Fournier d'Albe was a physicist and telegraph engineer. He served as Assistant to

George Francis Fitzgerald George Francis FitzGerald (3 August 1851 – 21 February 1901) was an Irish physicist known for hypothesising length contraction, which became an integral part of Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity. Life and work in physics FitzGer ...

in Trinity College Dublin during the closing years of the 19th century. In 1899, he taught mathematics at

University College, Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

. He was an assistant lecturer of physics at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

starting in 1910, and in October 1914 he went to teach at the

University of the Punjab The University of the Punjab (UoP) is a public university, public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1882, its international influence has made it one of the most prestigious universities in South As ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. He retired in 1927 after a stroke that left him with a paralyzed hand, but he continued to write in his chosen fields. Fournier d'Albe was the inventor of the optophone and worked as an assistant to the physicist

Oliver Lodge Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge (12 June 1851 – 22 August 1940) was an English physicist whose investigations into electromagnetic radiation contributed to the development of Radio, radio communication. He identified electromagnetic radiation indepe ...

. He worked for three years as the secretary at the Dublin section of the

Society for Psychical Research The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to condu ...

. He originally endorsed spiritualism after becoming convinced of the work of

William Crookes Sir William Crookes (; 17 June 1832 – 4 April 1919) was an English chemist and physicist who attended the Royal College of Chemistry, now part of Imperial College London, and worked on spectroscopy. He was a pioneer of vacuum tubes, inventing ...

with the medium Florence Cook. However, by 1921 he had become skeptical of physical mediumship after detecting trickery from the medium Kathleen Goligher but was a believer in the

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

.Wilson, Leigh. (2012). ''Modernism and Magic: Experiments with Spiritualism, Theosophy and the Occult''. Edinburgh University Press. p. 98. In 1920, he translated ''Phenomena of Materialization'' by

Albert von Schrenck-Notzing Albert Freiherr von Schrenck-Notzing (18 May 1862 – 12 February 1929) was a German physician, psychiatrist and notable psychical researcher, who devoted his time to the study of paranormal events connected with mediumship, hypnotism and telepa ...

and in 1923 he authored a biography of Crookes.

Celtic revival

Fournier d'Albe's first involvement was through the

Feis Ceoil Feis Ceoil ( ; "Festival of Music") is an Irish music organisation which holds an annual competitive festival of classical music. It was first organised in Dublin in 1897 by Dr. Annie Patterson and Edward Martyn for the purpose of stimulating mus ...

, an annual music festival to promote Irish music. The first was held in Dublin in 1897, and he was elected Registrar of the Feis due his skill in business management. As a delegate of the Feis, he attended other music and literary festivals such as the

National Eisteddfod of Wales The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...

. At the behest of the Feis Ceoil Association he travelled to Wales, where he was initiated into the

Gorsedd Cymru Gorsedd Cymru (), or simply the Gorsedd (), is a society of Welsh-language poets, writers, musicians and others who have contributed to the Welsh language and to public life in Wales. Its aim is to honour such individuals and help develop and p ...

. In 1898, the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

, Wales, Brittany, and the Isle of Man were represented at the Feis Ceoil held in Belfast, and Fournier d'Albe took the occasion to form a provisional committee to organize a Pan-Celtic Congress in Dublin. Together with Robert Boyd White, he is credited with making the first ever translation in 1908 of an Irish text into

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

—a passage from the

Book of Lismore The Book of Lismore, also known as the Book of Mac Carthaigh Riabhach, is a late fifteenth-century Gaelic manuscript that was created at Kilbrittain in County Cork, Ireland, for Fínghean Mac Carthaigh, Lord of Carbery (1478–1505). Defectiv ...

entitled ''Eachtra Laoghaire Mic Criomthain go maigh meall''. Fournier advocated Esperanto as a means to free Celts from the "linguistic incubus of their powerful neighbours or overlords". In 1926 he lectured in Esperanto on the topic of "Wireless

telegraphy Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

and television" at the second international Esperanto Summer University in Edinburgh.

Selected works

* ''An English-Irish Dictionary and Phrase Book'', Dublin: The Celtic Association, 1903.
''The Electron Theory: A Popular Introduction to the New Theory of Electricity and Magnetism''
London, New York, Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906. * ''Two New Worlds'', London, New York, Bombay, Calcutta: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1907.
''New Light on Immortality''
London, New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1908. * ''Wonders of Physical Science'', London: Macmillan and Co., 1910.
''Contemporary Chemistry: A Survey of the Present State, Methods and Tendencies of Chemical Science''
New York, D. Van Nostrand Co., 1911.
''The Goligher Circle, May to August 1921''
London: John M. Watkins, 1922. * ''The Life of Sir William Crookes, O.M., F.R.S.'', London: T. F. Unwin, 1923. * ''The Moon-Element; An Introduction to the Wonders of Selenium'', London: T. F. Unwin, 1924.
''Hephæstus; or, The soul of the Machine''
New York, E.P. Dutton & Co, 1925. *
Quo vadimus? Some Glimpses of the Future
', New York, E.P. Dutton & Company, 1925.

Works translated by him

* ''Across the Sahara by Motorcar''. G. M. Haardt and L. Audouin-Dubreuil; T. F. Unwin, 1924. Translated by E. E. Fournier d'Albe. * ''The Heavens''.

Jean-Henri Fabre Jean-Henri Casimir Fabre (; 21 December 1823 – 11 October 1915) was a French naturalist, entomologist, and author known for the lively style of his popular books on the lives of insects. Biography Fabre was born on 21 December 1823 in Saint- ...

; J. B. Lippincott Company, 1924. Translated by E. E. Fournier d'Albe. * ''Phenomena of Materialisation''.

; Kegan Paul & Company, 1920. Translated by E. E. Fournier d'Albe. * ''Dreams of an Astronomer''.

Camille Flammarion Nicolas Camille Flammarion FRAS (; 26 February 1842 – 3 June 1925) was a French astronomer and author. He was a prolific author of more than fifty titles, including popular science works about astronomy, several notable early science fiction ...

; New York: Appleton, 1923. Translated from ''Rêves étoilés'' by E. E. Fournier d'Albe.

References

* Obituary, ''Nature'' 132, #3325 (July 22, 1933), p. 125, . * Obituary, ''Nature'' 132, #3325 (July 22, 1933), pp. 125–126, .

Life and career

Celtic revival

Selected works

Works translated by him

References

Further reading