Yves Quéré (born 1931 in Commercy)(it) "Rinunce e Nomine 0650 Nomina di Membro Ordinario della Pontifica Accademia delle Scienze, http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2003/12/20/0650/02015.html#NOMINA DI MEMBRO ORDINARIO DELLA PONTIFICIA ACCADEMIA DELLE SCIENZE", Bulletin quotidien, Bureau de presse du Saint-Siège, 20 décembre 2003 is a French physicist and a member of the Academy of Sciences. Quéré is Professor Emeritus at the École Polytechnique, where he was elected President of the Department of Physics and President of the Senate of Professors, and then appointed Director of Education.

Biography and personal life

A mining engineer (Paris) with a doctorate in science, he worked at the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique and then at the École polytechnique In 1961, he married France Jaulmes, a writer and theologian. They have three children. With Jean-Michel Molkhou, Philip Boenhoffer and Frédéric Fortineau, he won a 1st Prize at the CEM (European Chamber Music Competition).

Scientific work

His research is on the physics of materials and in particular on the study of the interaction of particles with solids and the effects of

irradiation Irradiation is the process by which an object is exposed to radiation. An irradiator is a device used to expose an object to radiation, most often gamma radiation, for a variety of purposes. Irradiators may be used for sterilizing medical and p ...

, placing his work at the border between academic research and applications. This work focused on: * The effects of radiation on solids. Having discovered the phenomenon of very low-temperature growth of

uranium Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...

irradiated by

neutron The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , that has no electric charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. The Discovery of the neutron, neutron was discovered by James Chadwick in 1932, leading to the discovery of nucle ...

s and explained theoretically (with Jean Blin) the "exaggerated swelling" by fission gases in

nuclear fuel Nuclear fuel refers to any substance, typically fissile material, which is used by nuclear power stations or other atomic nucleus, nuclear devices to generate energy. Oxide fuel For fission reactors, the fuel (typically based on uranium) is ...

s, he developed (with Florence Rullier) the selective displacement of atoms in a binary alloy, notably superconductor and studied (with Jean Leteurtre, Libero Zuppiroli and Jacques Dural) the "induced flow" (by irradiation) of various metallic and ionic materials. * The study of punctual defects in

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

s and in particular that of gaps in

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

. He discovered and studied the strong interaction with the included oxygen atoms. * The channelling of

proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , Hydron (chemistry), H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' (elementary charge). Its mass is slightly less than the mass of a neutron and approximately times the mass of an e ...

s and

alpha particle Alpha particles, also called alpha rays or alpha radiation, consist of two protons and two neutrons bound together into a particle identical to a helium-4 nucleus. They are generally produced in the process of alpha decay but may also be produce ...

s into

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

s. Having developed (with Jean Mory and Georges Désarmot) the "canaligraphic" method, he demonstrated the decanalising power of most crystalline defects, and in particular the dislocations for which he established the theory and measured the effect. * The development (with René Boucher et al.) of long-lasting batteries for

pacemakers A pacemaker, also known as an artificial cardiac pacemaker, is an implanted medical device that generates electrical pulses delivered by electrodes to one or more of the chambers of the heart. Each pulse causes the targeted chamber(s) to co ...

and various anti-tumour devices based on

transuranic elements The transuranium (or transuranic) elements are the chemical elements with atomic number greater than 92, which is the atomic number of uranium. All of them are radioactively unstable and decay into other elements. Except for neptunium and pluton ...

Honours

Member of the French Academy of Sciences since 18 February 1991, he was its delegate for international relations for eight years. Yves Quéré was elected in 2000 as co-chair of the InterAcademy Panel (IAP), which is the assembly of the 100 or so Academies of Science around the world. With

Georges Charpak Georges Charpak (; born Jerzy Charpak; 1 August 1924 – 29 September 2010) was a Polish-born French physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1992 for his invention of the multiwire proportional chamber. Life Georges Charpak was born ...

and Pierre Léna, he has been involved since 1996 in the renovation of science education at school, "La Main à la pâte", where he has been particularly involved in international dissemination (Europe, Latin America, China, French-speaking Africa...) He was appointed a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on 20 December 2003. He was promoted to the rank of Commandeur 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 ...

on 13 July 2007.

Publications

He is the author of about a hundred publications and several books, including: * Punctual defects in metals (Masson, 1967) * Physics of Materials (Ellipsse) and Physics of Materials (John Wiley) * Teaching science (Odile Jacob, 2002) * The Wisdom of the Physicist, (L'œil neuf, 2005) * Children and science, with Georges Charpak and Pierre Léna (Odile Jacob, 2005) * Teaching, communicating, (Le Pommier, 2008) * Sixteenth notes (Le Pommier, 2010) * Language and science, with Alain Bentolila (Plon, 2014) * A shell in the hollow of the ear (Odile Jacob, 2018)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quéré, Yves 1931 births People from Commercy French physicists École Polytechnique alumni Academic staff of École Polytechnique Members of the French Academy of Sciences Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences Living people