Discoveries and Contributions to Electricity Research
– Discovered two types of electricity: vitreous and resinous
– Named positive and negative charge respectively
– Identified conductors and insulators as electrics and non-electrics
– Observed that alike-charged objects repel each other, while unlike-charged objects attract
– Disproved misconceptions about electric charge, such as the belief that it depended on the body’s color
– ‘Mémoire sur un grand nombre de phosphores nouveaux’ (1730)
– ‘Suite des Observations sur l’aimant’ (1730)
– ‘Troisième Mémoire sur l’aimant’ (1731)
– ‘Premier mémoire sur l’électricité, Histoire de l’électricité’ (1733)
– ‘Second mémoire sur l’électricité, Quels sont les Corps qui sont susceptibles d’Electricité’ (1733)
– ‘Troisième mémoire sur l’électricité, Des Corps qui sont le plus vivement attirés par les matières électriques’ (1733)
– ‘Quatrième mémoire sur l’électricité, De l’Attraction & Répulsion des Corps Electriques’ (1733)
– ‘Cinquième mémoire sur l’électricité, Où l’on rend compte des nouvelles découvertes’ (1734)
– ‘Sixième mémoire sur l’électricité, Où l’on examine quel rapport il y a entre l’Electricité, & la faculté de rendre de la Lumière’ (1734)
– ‘Septième mémoire sur l’électricité, Contenant quelques Additions aux Mémoires précédents’ (1737)
Publications
– All publications appeared in the journal ‘Histoire de l’Académie Royale des Sciences’
– ‘Mémoire sur les baromètres lumineux’ (1723)
– ‘Description d’une Pompe, qui peut servir utilement dans les Incendies’ (1725)
– ‘Description d’une machine pour connaitre l’heure vraie du soleil tous les jours de l’année’ (1725)
– ‘Expériences sur la dissolubilité de plusieurs sortes de Verres’ (1727)
– ‘Remarques sur les polygones réguliers inscrits et circonscrits’ (1727)
Membership and Death
– Became a member of the French Academy of Sciences in 1723
– Died of smallpox in 1739
Note: The content provided does not have enough information to create two more comprehensive groups. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._F._du_Fay
Charles François de Cisternay du Fay (14 September 1698 – 16 July 1739) was a French chemist and superintendent of the Jardin du Roi.
Charles François de Cisternay du Fay | |
|---|---|
 Charles François de Cisternay du Fay | |
| Born | 14 September 1698 Paris |
| Died | 16 July 1739 (aged 40) Paris |
| Nationality | French |
| Known for | electric charge |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | chemistry |
He discovered the existence of two types of electricity and named them "vitreous" and "resinous" (later known as positive and negative charge respectively). He noted the difference between conductors and insulators, calling them 'electrics' and 'non-electrics' for their ability to produce contact electrification. He also discovered that alike-charged objects would repel each other and that unlike-charged objects attract. He also disproved certain misconceptions regarding electric charge, such as that of Dr. Stephen Gray who believed that electric properties of a body depended on its colour. Du Fay's observations on electricity were reported in a paper written in December 1733 and printed in Volume 38 of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1734. He became a member of the French Academy of Sciences in 1723.
Du Fay died of smallpox in 1739.
