François Arago

A 19th Century French Humanist and Pioneer in Astrophysics
1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-3-319-20722-3
Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buch, Englisch, Band 421, 334 Seiten, HC runder Rücken kaschiert, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 7143 g

Reihe: Astrophysics and Space Science Library

François Arago, the first to show in 1810 that the surface of the Sun and stars is made of incandescent gas and not solid or liquid, was a prominent physicist of the 19th century. He used his considerable influence to help Fresnel, Ampere and others develop their ideas and make themselves known. This book covers his personal contributions to physics, astronomy, geodesy and oceanography, which are far from negligible, but insufficiently known. Arago was also an important and influential political man who, for example, abolished slavery in the French colonies. One of the last humanists, he had a very broad culture and range of interests. In parallel to his biography, this title also covers the spectacular progresses of science at the time of Arago, especially in France: the birth of physical optics, electromagnetism and thermodynamics. Francois Arago’s life is a fascinating epic tale that reads as a novel.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lequeux, James

Fachgebiete

• Naturwissenschaften Physik Angewandte Physik Astrophysik
• Naturwissenschaften Astronomie Astrophysik
• Naturwissenschaften Physik Physik Allgemein Geschichte der Physik
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Biographien & Autobiographien: Historisch, Politisch, Militärisch
• Naturwissenschaften Astronomie Geschichte der Astronomie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

The Scientific Life in France at the Time of Arago.- The Life of Arago.- The Nature of Light.- The Velocity of Light.- The Birth of Electromagnetism.- The Measurement of the Earth.- Arago and the Paris Observatory.- Arago, Astronomer.- Arago, Geophysicist and Meteorologist.- Towards Applied Physics.- The Promoter of Science and Technique.- The Heritage of Arago.

Über Autor(innen)

James Lequeux completed his PhD thesis in radioastronomy in 1962 and was an assistant, then associate, professor of physics and astronomy at Paris University until 1966. He was an Astronomer from 1966-1999 and an invited scientist at CalTech from 1968-1969. Dr. Lequeux was also the Director of the Marseilles Observatory from 1983-1988 and was Editor-in-Chief of the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics for 15 years. He retired in 1999 and then began work on the history of astronomy, a subject he presently writes about. Dr. Lequeux has published over 403 papers and five books, including The Interstellar Medium (Springer 2005) and Le Verrier: Magnificent and Detestable Astronomer (Springer 2013).