Henri Victor Regnault

Victor Regnault ForMemRS
Regnault in the 1860s
Born	Henri Victor Regnault (1810-07-21)21 July 1810 Aix-la-Chapelle,France
Died	19 January 1878(1878-01-19)(aged 67) Paris,France
Alma mater	École Polytechnique
Children	Henri Regnault
Awards	Rumford Medal(1848) Copley Medal(1869) Matteucci Medal(1875)
Scientific career
Fields	Thermodynamics

Henri Victor RegnaultForMemRS(21 July 1810 – 19 January 1878) was a Frenchchemistandphysicistbest known for his careful measurements of the thermal properties of gases. He was an earlythermodynamicistand was mentor toWilliam Thomsonin the late 1840s. He never used his first given name, and was known throughout his lifetime as Victor Regnault.

Biography

Born inAix-la-Chapellein 1810 (modern Aachen, Germany and at that time under French rule), he moved to Paris at the age of eight, following the death of his parents. There, he worked for an upholstery firm until he was eighteen. In 1830, he was admitted to theÉcole Polytechnique,and in 1832 he graduated from theÉcole des mines.

Working underJustus von LiebigatGießen,Regnault distinguished himself in the nascent field oforganic chemistryby synthesizing severalchlorinatedhydrocarbons(e.g.vinyl chloride,polyvinylidene chloride,dichloromethane), and he was appointed professor of chemistry at the University ofLyon.In 1840, he was appointed the chair of chemistry of the École Polytechnique, and in 1841, he became a professor of Physics in theCollège de France.

Beginning in 1843, he began compiling extensive numerical tables on the properties ofsteam.These were published in 1847, and inspiredCharles Algernon Parsonsto develop thesteam turbine.Regnault received theRumford Medalof theRoyal Society of Londonand appointment asChief Engineer of Mines.In 1851 he was elected a foreign member of theRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences.In 1854 he was appointed director of theporcelainworks atSèvres,theManufacture nationale de Sèvres.In 1855, he was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society.

At Sèvres, he continued work on the thermal properties of matter. He designed sensitivethermometers,hygrometers,hypsometersandcalorimeters,and measured thespecific heatsof many substances and thecoefficient of thermal expansionof gases. In the course of this work, he discovered that not all gases expand equally when heated and thatBoyle's Lawis only an approximation, especially at temperatures near a substance's boiling point.

Regnault was also an avid amateur photographer. He introduced the use ofpyrogallic acidas a developing agent, and was one of the first photographers to use paper negatives. In 1854, he became the founding president of theSociété française de photographie.

In 1871, his laboratory at Sèvres was destroyed and his sonAlex-Georges-Henri Regnaultkilled, both as a result of theFranco-Prussian War.He retired from science the next year, never recovering from these losses.

Legacy

The craterRegnaulton theMoonis named after Regnault, and his name is one of the72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.Some have suggested that the symbolRfor theideal gas constantis also named after him.

He was the first president ofSociété française de photographie.

The FrenchLagrange-classsubmarineRegnault,built between 1913 and 1924 was named for him.

Works

• Regnault-Strecker's kurzes Lehrbuch der Chemie.Vieweg, Braunschweig 1851Digital editionby theUniversity and State Library Düsseldorf
  • 2. Organische Chemie. 1853
  • 1. Anorganische Chemie. 3., verb. Aufl. 1855
  • 2. Organische Chemie. 2. Aufl.1857
  • 1. Anorganische Chemie. 4. Aufl.1858
  • 1. Anorganische Chemie. 9., neu bearb. Aufl. / von Johannes Wislicenus. 1877