Jean-André Deluc
Jean-André Deluc | |
---|---|
Republic of Geneva | |
Died | 7 November 1817 Windsor, Berkshire, England | (aged 90)
Nationality | Genevan, then Swiss since 1815 |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Geology, meteorology |
Jean-André Deluc or de Luc
Biography
Jean-André Deluc was born in
As a student of
Deluc also took part in politics. In 1768, sent on an embassy to the
Three years later, business reverses forced him to leave his native town; he returned, briefly, only once. The change freed him for non-scientific pursuits; with little regret he moved to Great Britain in 1773, where he was appointed reader to Queen Charlotte, a position he held for forty-four years and that afforded him both leisure and income.[7]
Despite his duties at court, he was given leave to make several tours of Switzerland, France, Holland and Germany. At the beginning of his German tour (1798–1804), he was distinguished with an honorary professorship of philosophy and geology at the University of Göttingen, which helped to cover diplomatic missions for the king George III. Back to Britain, he undertook a geological tour of the country (1804–1807).[8][9]
In 1773 Deluc was made a fellow of the Royal Society; he was a correspondent of the French Academy of Sciences and a member of several other learned societies. He died at Windsor, Berkshire, England, in 1817, after nearly 70 years of research. Deluc, an impact crater on the Moon, was given his name.
Scientific contributions
Observations and theory
Deluc's main interests were geology and meteorology; Georges Cuvier mentions him as an authority on the former subject.[10] His major geological work, Lettres physiques et morales sur les montagnes et sur l'histoire de la terre et de l'homme (6 vol., 1778–1780), was dedicated to Queen Charlotte. He published volumes on geological travels: in northern Europe (1810), in England (1811), and in France, Switzerland and Germany (1813).[9]
Deluc noticed the disappearance of heat in the thawing of ice about the same time that
His book Lettres sur l'histoire physique de la terre (Paris, 1798), addressed to
Many other papers were in the Journal de Physique, in the Philosophical Transactions and in the Philosophical Magazine.[9]
Instruments
Deluc dedicated a large part of his activity to perfecting or inventing
He devised a portable barometer for use in geological expeditions.
Based on his experiments in 1772, Deluc advocated the use of mercury, instead of alcohol or other fluids, in thermometers, as its volume varies the most linearly with the method of mixtures. In detail, if two portions of water of equal masses A, B were mixed, and let the resulting water be C, and if we immerse a thermometer in A, B, C, we obtain lengths . Deluc expected that , and similarly for other ratios of mixtures. He found that thermometers made using mercury allowed the closest fit to his expectation of linearity.[16]
In 1809 he sent a long paper to the Royal Society on separating the chemical from the electrical effect of the
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1772 copy of volumes 1 and 2 of "Recherches sur les modifications de l'atmosphère"
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Title page of a 1772 copy of volume 1 of "Recherches sur les modifications de l'atmosphère"
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Table of contents page of a 1772 copy of volume 1 of "Recherches sur les modifications de l'atmosphère"
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Dedication to a 1772 copy of volume 1 of "Recherches sur les modifications de l'atmosphère"
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Dedication to a 1772 copy of volume 1 of "Recherches sur les modifications de l'atmosphère"
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First page of a 1772 copy of volume 1 of "Recherches sur les modifications de l'atmosphère"
Scriptural and observational data
The last decades of Deluc's life were occupied with theological considerations.[3] In his controversy with Hutton, "while never arguing that Hutton was an atheist, Deluc did accuse him of failing to counter atheism sufficiently".[20]
He took care in reconciling observational data and the Scriptures considered as a description of the history of the world. In his Lettres physiques et morales he explained the six days of the creation as epochs preceding the current state of the globe, and attributed the deluge to the filling up of cavities in the interior of the earth.[9]
The subject is discussed at length by Martina Kölbl-Ebert in Geology and Religion.[21]
See also
Bibliography
Selection
- "Account of a new hygrometer", Philosophical Transactions, 63/2, 1773, p. 404–460.
- "Barometrical observations on the depth of the mines in the Hartz", Philosophical Transactions, 67/2, 1777, p. 401–550.
- An essay on pyrometry and areometry and on physical measures in general, London, Nichols, 1778–79 (2 vols).
- An elementary treatise on geology, p. PR1, at Google Books (1809); translated by Henry De La Fite (d. 1831).
- Geological travels, London, 1810–11 (3 vols): Travels in the north of Europe (vol. 1); Travels in England (vols 2 & 3).
- Experiments concerning the electric machine: showing the electric effects of frictions between bodies, London, 1811.
- Geological travels in some parts of France, Switzerland, and Germany: vol. 1 (1813) (nos. 1–453), vol. 2 (1813) (nos. 454–844), vol. 3 (1811) (nos. 935–1417) on Google Books[22]
- Letters on the physical theory of the earth, addressed to Professor Blumenbach, London, 1831 (With introductory remarks and illustrations by Henry De La Fite).
Lists of online works
- List of online works on e-rara.ch. (in French and German)
- Articles published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. (in French)
- Jean-André Deluc (1779–1780) Lettres physiques et morales sur l'histoire de la terre et de l'homme, 5 vol. – digital facsimile from the Linda Hall Library
- Jean-André Deluc (1810–1811) Geological Travels. 3 vol. (English) – digital facsimile from the Linda Hall Library
References
- ^ Always generally spelled "Deluc". In 1820, Michaud's article about Jean-André De Luc is under "Luc", while the article about his brother Guillaume-Antoine is under "Deluc".
- ^ "Deluc" = "De Luc" = "De Lucques" (same pronunciation); "Lucques" is the French name of the city of Lucca.
- ^ a b Sigrist
- ^ Jean-Jacques Rousseau, while a friend of his father's, considered the personage and his writings as boring: Histoire de la vie et des ouvrages de J.-J. Rousseau, vol. 1, p. 383. See also Miller, James. Rousseau: dreamer of democracy, Hackett Publishing, 1984, p. 51
- ^ René Sigrist, "Collecting nature's medals", in John Heilbron & René Sigrist (eds), Jean-André Deluc. Historian of Earth and Man, Geneva, Slatkine, 2011, p. 105-146.
- ^ The collection later came into the hands of his nephew, also named Jean-André (1763–1847) and a writer on geology as well, who enlarged it. It is now at the Natural History Museum of Geneva.
- ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 975–976.
- ^ Michaud
- ^ a b c d e f g Chisholm 1911, p. 976.
- ^ No less than ten times in his Rapport historique sur les progrès des sciences naturelles...
- ^ La Température où l'eau est le plus condensée, est à peu près à 4 °Ré (5 °C) page 274
- ^ Especially "Remarques sur les baromètres destinés au transport". Recherches sur les modifications de l'atmosphère, vol. 1, p. 214
- ^ "Account of a new hygrometer" (1773); "A second paper on hygrometry" (1791)
- ^ René Sigrist, "Scientific standards in the 1780s: A controversy over hygrometers", in John Heilbron & René Sigrist (eds), Jean-André Deluc. Historian of Earth and Man, Geneva, Slatkine, 2011, p. 147-183.
- )
- )
- ^ Nicholson's Journal, 1810
- ISBN 978-1-78326-917-4.
- S2CID 20662894.
- ^ Dean, Dennis R. James Hutton and the history of geology, p. 81
- ISBN 9781862392694
- ^ There is some confusion in the numbering of volumes by Google Books (August 2013).
Sources
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Deluc, Jean André". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 975–976. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- Harrison, William Jerome. Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. .
- Heilbron, John L.; Sigrist, René (ed.). Jean-André Deluc, historian of earth and man. Geneva: Slatkine 2011.
- Michaud, Joseph-François; Michaud, Louis Gabriel. "Luc (Jean-André de)". Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne, vol. 25. 1820
- Sigrist, René. "Deluc, Jean-André". Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse (in French). Also available in German and Italian.
External links
- Jean-Andre DeLuc papers (MS 179). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.[1]