Charles-Augustin de Coulomb was a French physicist born on
June 14, 1736. He developed the
definition of the electrostatic force of attraction and repulsion which became
known as Coulomb's law. The coulomb, the
SI unit of charge, was also named for him.
His father lost the family's money through bad financial
speculations and they consequently moved from Paris to Montpellier,
France. Coulomb followed his interests
of mathematics and astronomy. He
returned to Paris for tutoring in order to pass the entrance exams for the École
du Génie at Mézières. He graduated from
the school in 1761 as an engineer and ranked as a lieutenant in the Corps du
Génie.
Coulomb was assigned to Martinique; the island was damaged
by the Dutch and the English over the years.
He was tasked with building the new Fort Bourbon. It was completed in 1772. He would later write about his experiences
with the construction in his theoretical memoirs about mechanics.
The stay in Martinique took a toll on his health and he
returned to France. Coulomb resigned
from his military appointment when the French Revolution began in 1789.
The Revolutionary government decreed a new determination in
weights and measures and Coulomb returned to Paris to help create them. Many of his major accomplishments took place
from 1779-1802; he submitted over 25 memoirs to the Academie des Sciences during
this time:
- Published an investigation of the laws of
friction (Théorie des machines simples,
en ayant regard au frottement de leurs parties et à la roideur des cordages)
- Published a memoir on fluid resistance
describing his torsion balance (Recherches
théoriques et expérimentales sur la force de torsion eti sur lélasticité des
fils de metal)
- Appointed inspector of public instruction
Coulomb was known for using the calculus of variations to
solve engineering problems. He was best
known, however, for his theory of attraction and repulsion of bodies with
electrical charges. He demonstrated an
inverse square for the forces. Coulomb's
explanation is used today; however, he thought the attraction and repulsion
were caused by different types of fluids.
In addition to leaving the legacies of Coulomb's law and the
coulomb unit of measure, his name is one of 72 inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.
Resources:
NNDB - Charles-Augustin
de Coulomb [image]
University of St Andrews School of Mathematics and
Statistics - Charles
Augustin de Coulomb
Wikipedia - Charles-Augustin
de Coulomb
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