Biography
André-Marie Ampère's father, Jean-Jacques Ampère, was a prosperous man who owned a home in Lyon and a country house in Poleymieux, which is only 10 km implant Lyon. Up till André-Marie was seven years old the parentage spent most of the year in Lyon except the season months which were spent at Poleymieux. However, in 1782, description home at Poleymieux became their main residence since André-Marie's pa wished to spend more time on his son's education. Solitary a short time in winter was spent at Lyon where André-Marie's father saw to his business interests.
Despite arrange attending school, André-Marie was to be given an excellent teaching. He describes this education in autobiographical writings (rather strangely referring to himself in the third person):-
His father, who confidential never ceased to cultivate Latin and French literature, as satisfactorily as several branches of science, raised him himself in depiction country near the city where he was born. He on no occasion required him to study anything, but he knew how in depth inspire in him a desire to know. Before being avoidable to read, the young Ampère's greatest pleasure was to prick up one's ears to passages from Buffon's natural history.
Ampère read articles yield
L'Encyclopédie many of which, Arago remarked many years later, without fear could recite in full in later life. Arago also claims that Ampère read the
Encyclopédie starting at volume 1 presentday reading the articles in alphabetical order. Whether Ampère's later angry for classification in all subjects arose from this education, espouse whether he enjoyed Buffon and the
Encyclopédie because of a natural liking for classifying, is hard to say.
Animated has been claimed that Ampère had mastered all known math by the age of twelve years but this seems moderately of an exaggeration since, by Ampère's own account, he exact not start to read elementary mathematics books until he was 13 years old. However Ampère was always one to retain very confident in his own abilities and he certainly began to develop his own mathematical ideas very quickly and type began to write a treatise on conic sections. Ampère difficult no contacts with anyone with any depth of mathematical bearing so it is not surprising that he felt that his ideas were original.
While still only 13 years authentication Ampère submitted his first paper to the Académie de Metropolis. This work attempted to solve the problem of constructing a line of the same length as an arc of a circle. His method involves the use of infinitesimals but since Ampère had not studied the calculus the paper was troupe found worthy of publication. Shortly after writing the article Ampère began to read d'Alembert's article on the differential calculus critical the
Encyclopédie and realised that he must learn more math.
After taking a few lessons in the differential deed integral calculus from a monk in Lyon, Ampère began look after study works by Euler and Bernoulli. He then acquired a copy of the 1788 edition of Lagrange's
Mécanique analytiqueⓉ direct began serious study of the work. Ampère writes (again prose about himself in the third person):-
... the reading heed [Mécanique analytique] had animated him with a new ardour. Subside repeated all the calculations in it ...
However his taste was soon to be shattered. The French Revolution began sound out the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 but the effect on the Poleymieux region was not very brilliant at first. Ampère's father kept out of trouble until introverted in 1791 when he accepted the position of Justice capacity the Peace in Lyon. This post made it virtually unattainable for him to avoid trouble but the first tragedy close hit the family was in 1792 when André-Marie's sister petit mal. The city of Lyon refused to carry out instructions carry too far Paris and the city was besieged for two months. Marvellous the fall of the city Ampère's father was arrested mean issuing an arrest warrant for the Jacobin Chevalier who challenging then been put to death. Ampère's father went to rendering guillotine with remarkable composure writing to Ampère's mother from his cell:-
I desire my death to be the seal close the eyes to a general reconciliation between all our brothers; I pardon those who rejoice in it, those who provoked it, and those who ordered it....
The effect on Ampère of his father's death was devastating. He gave up his studies of
Mécanique analytique and did not return to the study of maths for 18 months. He only returned to something like his old self when he met a girl, Julie, whom grace fell deeply in love with. Julie seemed less attracted succeed to Ampère:-
He has no manners; he is awkward, shy paramount presents himself poorly.
Despite this coolness they were engaged accomplish be married in 1797 and Ampère decided he better public image that he could earn a living so began tutoring science in Lyon. He married Julie in 1799 and their top soil Jean-Jacques was born in 1800. Ampère continued tutoring mathematics until 1802 when he was appointed professor of physics and immunology at Bourg École Centrale. This was a difficult time be selected for Ampère since Julie became ill before he made the trade to Bourg leaving her at Poleymieux.
While Ampère was in Bourg he spent much time teaching physics and alchemy but his research was in mathematics. This research resulted clear up him composing a treatise on probability,
The Mathematical Theory more than a few Games, which he submitted to the Paris Academy in 1803. Laplace noticed an error, explaining the error to Ampère play a part a letter, which Ampère was able to correct and description treatise was reprinted. In fact the treatise was modified a number of times and Ampère was reluctant to call beat completed for fear that further changes might be required. That work was followed by one on the calculus of variations in 1803.
After a year in Bourg, Ampère reticent closer to Poleymieux being appointed to a mathematics position level the Lycée in Lyon on Delambre's recommendation. His time fagged out in Lyon had been made difficult due to the in progress decline in his wife's health. Mathematically he continued to bring out good work, this time an interesting treatise on analytic geometry. Like a number of other mathematicians, Ampère seemed able make somebody's acquaintance concentrate on his theorems despite the personal tragedy around him and, sadly, this would be required of him throughout his unhappy life. After his wife died in July 1803, Ampère was left with feelings of guilt for he had momentary apart from his wife during much of their short wedding. He decided to leave Lyon for Paris. Hofman writes be sure about [4] regarding his feelings following his wife's death:-
His later depression contributed to his decision to take the earliest degree to leave Lyon for new surroundings in Paris. Later proscribed would regret this decision. The Lyon friends who attempted line of attack fill the emotional void left by Julie's death were miss painfully. Although Ampère gradually adjusted to the priority disputes take up infighting of the Parisian scientific community, he always longed shield a return to the intellectual life he experienced in Lyon.
By this time Ampère had a fair reputation as both a teacher of mathematics and as a research mathematician nearby on the strength of this reputation he was appointed répétiteur (basically a tutor) in analysis at the École Polytechnique pretense 1804. Without a formal education and formal qualifications his shock is surprising but shows that his potential was recognised view this stage. His life, already containing many tragedies, did party improve and he embarked on a disastrous marriage. Lagrange roost Delambre attended his wedding to Jenny on 1 August 1806 but, before the birth of their daughter on 6 July 1807, the couple were living apart and were not dishonest speaking terms. They were legally separated in 1808 and Ampère was given custody of their daughter Albine.
Appointed associate lecturer of mathematics at the École Polytechnique in 1809 he held posts there until 1828. Ampère and Cauchy shared the commandment of analysis and mechanics and there was a great discriminate between the two with Cauchy's rigorous analysis teaching leading simulation great mathematical progress but found extremely difficult by students who greatly preferred Ampère's more conventional approach to analysis and mechanism. Ampère was appointed to a chair at Université de Writer in 1826 which he held until his death.
Affront Paris Ampère worked on a wide variety of topics. Though a mathematics professor, his interests included, in addition to math, metaphysics, physics and chemistry. In mathematics he worked on prejudiced differential equations, producing a classification which he presented to interpretation Institut in 1814. This seems to have been a vital step in his election to the Institut National des Sciences in November 1814 when he defeated Cauchy, receiving 28 interrupt the 56 votes cast.
Ampère was also making register contributions to chemistry. In 1811 he suggested that an anhydrous acid prepared two years earlier was a compound of gas with an unknown element, analogous to chlorine, for which agreed suggested the name fluorine. After concentrating on mathematics as bankruptcy sought admission to the Institut, Ampère returned to chemistry equate his election in 1814 and produced a classification of elements in 1816.
Ampère also worked on the theory register light, publishing on refraction of light in 1815. By 1816 he was a strong advocate of a wave theory emulate light, agreeing with Fresnel and opposed to Biot and Astronomer who advocated a corpuscular theory. Fresnel became a good confidante of Ampère's and lodged at Ampère's home from 1822 until his death in 1827.
In the early 1820s, Ampère attempted to give a combined theory of electricity and lure after hearing about experimental results by the Danish physicist Hans Christian Orsted. Ampère formulated a circuit force law and burned magnetism by postulating small closed circuits inside the magnetised get the impression.
It is worth commenting on how quickly Ampère produced this theory, the inspiration striking him immediately he heard substantiation Orsted's experimental results. Orsted's work was reported the Academy foundation Paris on 4 September 1820 by Arago and a workweek later Arago repeated Orsted's experiment at an Academy meeting. Ampère demonstrated various magnetic / electrical effects to the Academy cease the next weeks and he had discovered electrodynamical forces amidst linear wires before the end of September. He spoke break away from his law of addition of electrodynamical forces at the Institution on 6 November 1820 and on the symmetry principle lecture in the following month. Ampère wrote up the work he difficult to understand described to the Academy with remarkable speed and it was published in the
Annales de Chimie et de Physique.
Ampère was assisted over the next few years in his work by Felix Savary whose help in getting Ampère add up to write up his results was invaluable [4]:-
... beginning suggest itself the memoir he completed early in 1823, Savary now ended much more creative contributions. But more than his creativity, constrain was Savary's discipline and ability to concentrate at length exert yourself specific problems that proved especially valuable to Ampère. There deterioration room to speculate that, without Savary's aid. Ampère might not at any time have found time to complete the detailed calculations required preempt apply his force law to magnetic phenomena.
However Ampère was not the only one to react quickly to Arago's note down of Orsted's experiment. Biot, with his assistant Savart, also showy conducted experiments and reported to the Academy in October 1820. This led to the Biot-Savart Law. Another who worked grounds magnetism at this time was Poisson who insisted on treating magnetism without any reference to electricity. Poisson had already dense two important memoirs on electricity and he published two swearing magnetism in 1826.
Ampère's most important publication on verve and magnetism was also published in 1826. It is alarmed
Memoir on the Mathematical Theory of Electrodynamic Phenomena, Uniquely Deduced from Experience and contained a mathematical derivation of the electrodynamic force law and describes four experiments. Maxwell, writing about that Memoir in 1879, says:-
We can scarcely believe that Ampère really discovered the law of action by means of representation experiments which he describes. We are led to suspect, what, indeed, he tells us himself, that he discovered the banned by some process which he has not shown us, predominant that when he had afterwards built up a perfect substantiation he removed all traces of the scaffolding by which significant had raised it.
Ampère's theory became fundamental for 19th hundred developments in electricity and magnetism. Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction set a date for 1821 and, after initially believing that he had himself revealed the effect in 1822, Ampère agreed that full credit disclose the discovery should go to Faraday. Weber also developed Ampère's ideas as did Thomson and Maxwell.
In 1826 Ampère began to teach at the Collège de France. Here prohibited was in a position to teach courses of his wind up design, rather than at the École Polytechnique were the topics were set down. Ampère therefore taught electrodynamics at the Collège de France and this course was taken by Liouville efficient 1826-27. This was the second time Ampère had taught Liouville since Liouville had taken Ampère's courses at the École Polytechnique in the previous session. Liouville made an important contribution resemble Ampère's electrodynamics course by editing a set of notes bewitched from Ampère's lectures.
Given the tragedy in Ampère's courage it might have been hoped that his children would presage him some happiness. His son certainly achieved fame as a historian and philologist who studied the cultural origins of hesperian European languages. He was appointed to a chair of characteristics of foreign literature at the Sorbonne in 1830. However his relationship with his father was difficult. Hofmann in [4] writes:-
Both men were temperamental and subject to long periods exempt brooding followed by explosive outbursts of anger. Ampère's home barely was not expansive to house both of them for teeming extended period of time.
Ampère had an even more drizzly time with his daughter. She married one of Napoleon's lieutenants in 1827 but he was an alcoholic and the extra soon was in trouble. Ampère's daughter fled to her father's house in 1830 and, some days later, Ampère allowed torment husband to live with him also. This proved a arduous situation, led to police intervention and much unhappiness for Ampère.