Prosper-René Blondlot

Prosper-René Blondlot

Prosper-René Blondlot (July 3, 1849 - November 24, 1930) was a French physicist, best remembered for his mistaken identification of N rays, a phenomenon that subsequently proved to be illusory.

Born in Nancy, France, he spent most of his early years there, teaching physics at the University, being awarded three prestigious prizes of the Académie des Sciences for his experimental work on the consequences of Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism.

In order to demonstrate, in collaboration with Ernest Bichat, that a Kerr cell responds to an applied electric field in a few tens of microseconds, he adapted the rotating-mirror method that Léon Foucault had applied to measure the speed of light. He further developed the rotating mirror to measure the speed of electricity in a conductor, photographing the sparks emitted from two conductors, one 1.8 km longer than the other and measuring the relative displacement of their images. He thus established that the speed of electricity in a conductor is very close to that of light.

In 1903, Blondlot announced that he had discovered N rays, a new species of radiation. The "discovery" attracted much attention over the following year until Robert W. Wood showed that the phenomena were purely subjective with no physical origin.

Little is known about Blondlot's later years. William Seabrook stated in his Wood biography "“Doctor Wood”", [Seabrook William: "Doctor Wood, Modern Wizard of the Laboratory" Harcourt Brace, New York 1941] that Blondlot went insane and died, supposedly as a result of his exposure: "“This tragic exposure eventually led to Blondlot's madness and death”". Using an almost identical wording this statement was repeated later by Martin Gardner, possibly without having investigated into the subject: "„Wood's exposure led to Blondlot's madness and death“". [Martin Gardner, "Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science (Popular Science)"; Dover Publications, 1957, ISBN 0486203948] Note, however that Blondlot continued to work as a university professor in Nancy until his early retirement in 1910. [E. Pierret, Bull. Acad. Soc. Lorraines Sci. 7: 240 (1968)] He died at the age of 81; at the time of the N-ray affair he was nearly 60 years old.

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Rene Blondlot — Prosper René Blondlot (* 3. Juli 1849; † 24. November 1930) war ein französischer Physiker. Er wurde bekannt als „Entdecker“ der N Strahlen, einem Phänomen, das später als Selbsttäuschung entlarvt wurde. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 2… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • René Blondlot — Prosper René Blondlot (* 3. Juli 1849; † 24. November 1930) war ein französischer Physiker. Er wurde bekannt als „Entdecker“ der N Strahlen, einem Phänomen, das später als Selbsttäuschung entlarvt wurde. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 2… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • René Blondlot — Prosper René Blondlot né et mort à Nancy (3 juillet 1849 24 novembre 1930) est un physicien français. Grand physicien expérimental français, il a acquit une grande réputation dans les années 1890 à 1900 grâce a ses expériences qui ont permit… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • René-Prosper Blondlot — Prosper René Blondlot (* 3. Juli 1849; † 24. November 1930) war ein französischer Physiker. Er wurde bekannt als „Entdecker“ der N Strahlen, einem Phänomen, das später als Selbsttäuschung entlarvt wurde. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 2… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • René — (born again, or reborn, in French) is a very common given name in French speaking countries. It comes from the Latin name Renatus. René is normally, originally only a masculine name (Renée being the feminine form). But in non Francophone… …   Wikipedia

  • N ray — This article is about the hypothetical form of radiation described in 1903. For the genuine nuclear decay product, see neutron radiation. Fig. 6,7 from Prosper René Blondlot: Registration by Photography of the Action Produced by N Rays on a Small …   Wikipedia

  • Renatus — is a first name of Latin origin which means born again (natus = born). In countries of Italian, Portuguese and Spanish languages it exists in a masculine and feminine form i.e., Renato and Renata. In the French language they have been translated… …   Wikipedia

  • List of discredited substances — This page is a list of substances or materials which are generally considered to be discredited. A substance may be discredited in one of three ways: It was widely believed to exist at one time but is not any more. Such substances are often part… …   Wikipedia

  • 1930 in France — See also: 1929 in France, other events of 1930, 1931 in France. Events from the year 1930 in France.Events*10 February Yen Bai mutiny takes place, an uprising by Vietnamese soldiers in the French colonial army s garrison in Yen Bai. *22 April… …   Wikipedia

  • 1849 in France — See also: 1848 in France, other events of 1849, 1850 in France. Events from the year 1849 in France.Events*1 January France s first postage stamp, Ceres, is issued. *27 April Giuseppe Garibaldi enters Rome to defend it from the French troops of… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”