Hippolyte Fizeau, French Physicist

Hippolyte Fizeau, French Physicist

Armand Hippolyte Louis Fizeau (September 23, 1819 - September 18, 1896) was a French physicist. His earliest work was concerned with improvements in photographic processes. He and Foucault collaborated in a series of investigations on the interference of light and heat. In 1849 he was the first person to measure the speed of light on Earth. He used a beam of light reflected from a mirror 5 miles away. The beam passed through the gaps between teeth of a rapidly rotating wheel. The speed of the wheel was increased until the returning light passed through the next gap and could be seen. He calculated the speed of light to be 315,000 km/s. In 1849 he published the first results obtained by his method for determining the speed of light (Fizeau-Foucault apparatus). He was involved in the discovery of the Doppler effect. In 1853 he described the use of the capacitor (then called the condenser) as a means to increase the efficiency of the induction coil. He died in 1896 at the age of 76. His is one of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.

HIPPOLYTE FIZEAU

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