Joseph-Charles d'Almeida (November 11, 1822 – November 9, 1880) was a French experimental physicist who founded the ''

Journal de physique The ''European Physical Journal'' (or ''EPJ'') is a joint publication of EDP Sciences, Springer Science+Business Media, and the Società Italiana di Fisica. It arose in 1998 as a merger and continuation of ''Acta Physica Hungarica'', '' Anales de ...

'' in 1872 and the

Société Française de Physique The Société Française de Physique (SFP), or the French Physical Society, is the main professional society of French physicists. It was founded in 1873 by Joseph-Charles d'Almeida. History The French Physical Society is a state-approved non- ...

in 1873.

Biography

D'Almeida was the son of Portuguese rentier Francisco de Almeida Portugal, later Count of Lavradio, under the Franconized name of Louise Joséphine Pierrette Miller who served as an advisor to the Portuguese embassy in Paris. He was a friend of

François-René de Chateaubriand François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand (4 September 1768 – 4 July 1848) was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian who influenced French literature of the nineteenth century. Descended from an old aristocratic family from Bri ...

and

Jean-Guillaume Hyde de Neuville Jean-Guillaume, baron Hyde de Neuville (24 January 1776 – 28 May 1857) was a French nobleman, diplomat, physician and politician who served as the French ambassador to the United States from 1815 to 1821. Early life Jean-Guillaume Hyde was b ...

. D'Almeida studied first at a private school, the Pension de Reusse and then at the

Lycée Saint-Louis The Lycée Saint-Louis () is a selective post-secondary school located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, 6th arrondissement of Paris, in the Latin Quarter. It is the only state-funded French lycée that exclusively offers ''Classe Préparatoir ...

and then at the

Lycée Henri-IV The Lycée Henri-IV () is a public secondary school located in Paris. Along with the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, it is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious and demanding sixth-form colleges ('' lycées'') in France. The school educates more ...

. He wanted to join the

École polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

but estrangement from his family led to changes in his plans. He became a preparator for the professor from 1843 and in 1848 he became an associate professor of physics at the Lycée Corneille. D'Almeida became a naturalized French citizen in 1844. His license to teach physics ran into bureaucratic troubles due to his citizenship and a period of political turmoil. The Lycée d’Alger was established in Algeria and d'Almeida was recruited for it. In 1851 he was able to get help from

Marcellin Berthelot Pierre Eugène Marcellin Berthelot (; 25 October 1827 – 18 March 1907) was a French chemist and Republican politician noted for the ThomsenBerthelot principle of thermochemistry. He synthesized many organic compounds from inorganic substance ...

who was a close friend and peer from college. Berthelot helped him find a position at the laboratory of Antoine-Jérôme Balard's in Paris. He received a doctorate for work on

electrolysis In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses Direct current, direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of c ...

. He gave lessons from 1853 to

Nestor Gréhant Nestor Louis François Gréhant (2 April 1838 in Laon – 26 March 1910) was a French physiologist. In 1864 he received his medical doctorate in Paris, where he later earned a doctorate in natural sciences (1870). He served as a préparateur ...

in his apartment on rue Royer-Collard. He became an adjunct professor at the Lycée Henri-IV which was now known as the Lycée Napoléon. Along with Augustin Boutan, he authored a physics textbook for secondary schools which was first published in 1862. D'Almeida met

Jules Janssen Pierre Jules César Janssen (22 February 1824 – 23 December 1907), usually known as Jules Janssen, was a French astronomer who, along with English scientist Joseph Norman Lockyer, is credited with discovering the gaseous nature of the solar ...

in 1855 and became interested in spectra. He also took an interest in anaglyphs using

magic lantern The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that uses pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lens (optics), lenses, and a light source. ...

s projecting in two colours and viewing them through two coloured filters in 1858. In 1860 he worked on electrolysis of alcohol and nitric acid along with Pierre-Paul Dehérain. He visited Portugal and then the United States in 1862. He met William Douglas O'Connor,

Rebecca Harding Davis Rebecca Blaine Harding Davis (June 24, 1831 – September 29, 1910) was an American author and journalist. She was a pioneer of literary realism in American literature. She graduated valedictorian from Washington Female Seminary in Pennsylvania. ...

, James Thomas Fields,

Henry Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to complet ...

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...

and Louis Agassiz. In 1869 he went with Antoine-Jérôme Balard, Marcellin Berthelot, Jules Jamin, Étienne-Jules Marey to the inauguration of the Suez Canal. In 1870 he took part in a balloon flight and he tried along with Jean-Gustave Bourbouze to use the Seine river as an electrical conduction with a view to allow telegraphic messages to be sent from Poissy to Desains. In 1872 he founded, along with Charles Brisse, Berthelot and Desains, the ''Journal de Physique''. The next year, he was among the founders of the French Physical Society and served as its general secretary. He died of a heart attack and was buried at the

Montparnasse Cemetery Montparnasse Cemetery () is a cemetery in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris, in the city's 14th arrondissement of Paris, 14th arrondissement. The cemetery is roughly 47 acres and is the second largest cemetery in Paris. The cemetery has over 35,00 ...

in Paris. This was later moved to the Père-Lachaise ossuary. A bust by Eugène Guillaume was placed in the meeting room of the French Physical Society in 1881.

Publications

* ''Décomposition par la pile des sels dissous dans l'eau'', Martinet, 1856 — Thèse de doctorat. * (with Augustin Boutan) ''Problèmes de physique'', Dunod, 1862 — onlin
quatrième édition (1874)
* (with Paul-Jean Coulier et

), ''Vérification de l' aréomètre de Baumé'', Gauthier-Villars, 1873. * « Nouvel appareil stéréoscopique », ''Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences'', 1858, t. XLVII, * ''Cours élémentaire de physique suivi de problèmes'', Dunod, 1874 * (with Augustin Boutan) ''Cours élémentaire de physique'', précédé de notions de mécanique et suivi de problèmes, Dunod, 1863, 1867, 1884 * (with Augustin Boutan) ''Problèmes de physique'', Dunod, 1862 * ''Thèse de physique, sur la décomposition par la pile des sels dissous dans l'eau'', Martinet, 1856 * Rapport sur une mission confiée à Charles d'Almeida par le Gouvernement de la Défense nationale dont l'objet était d’établir des communications entre la Province et Paris lors de la Guerre de 1870-1871, Tours, Deslis Frères et Cie, 1913 . * ''Journal de physique théorique et appliquée. A.(série 1)'', Bureau du journal de physique (Paris), 1872-1881. IRIS, bibliothèque numérique en histoire des sciences de l'université. Lille I.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Almeida, Joseph-Charles 1822 births 1880 deaths Lycée Henri-IV teachers 19th-century French physicists Magic lanterns