Pierre Bouguer: Man in Shadow of Law
Michael M. Stolnitz, Saratov State University, Saratov, Russia
Abstract
Pierre Bouguer, (born Feb. 16, 1698, Le Croisic, France — died Aug. 15, 1758, Paris), versatile French scientist best remembered as one of the founders of photometry, the measurement of light intensities. He formulated Bouguer’s law (sometimes called Lambert’s law), regarding the attenuation of a light beam in a transparent medium. This law and his photometric work he published in his "Essai d’optique sur la gradation de la lumière" (1729; Optical Treatise on the Gradation of Light). In 1735 he set off on an expedition with C.M. de la Condamine to measure an arc of the meridian near the Equator in Peru; he used the results obtained to make a new determination of Earth’s shape. He later gave a full account of his researches in "La Figure de la terre" (1749; “The Shape of the Earth”). Bouguer devoted much of his life to the study of nautical problems. He wrote on naval maneuvers and navigation and, in ship design, derived a formula for calculating the metacentric radius, a measure of ship stability.
Speaker
Michael M. Stolnitz
Saratov State University
Russian Federation
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