Charles-Augustin de Coulomb

Charles-Augustin de Coulomb ( ; French:; 14 June 1736 – 23 August 1806) was a French officer, engineer, and physicist. He is best known as the eponymous discoverer of what is now called Coulomb's law, the description of the electrostatic force of attraction and repulsion. He also did important work on friction, and his work on earth pressure formed the basis for the later development of much of the science of soil mechanics.

The SI unit of electric charge, the coulomb, was named in his honor in 1880.