Marc-Auguste Pictet | |
|---|---|
 Portrait byFirmin Massot, 1809 | |
| Born | (1752-07-23)23 July 1752 |
| Died | 19 April 1825(1825-04-19) (aged 72) Geneva, Switzerland |
| Alma mater | Academy of Geneva |
| Known for | Pictet's experiment |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards | FRS (1791) FRSE (1796) |
Marc-Auguste PictetFRS FRSE (French:[piktɛ]; 23 July 1752 – 19 April 1825) was a Genevanscientific journalist and experimentalnatural philosopher.
Pictet's main contribution to learning was his editing of the scientific section of theBibliothèque Britannique (1796–1815), a publication devoted to the diffusion on theContinent of knowledge and arts produced inGreat Britain. His own scientific research focused on the fields ofphysical science, especiallycalorimetry, but alsoastronomy,[1]geology,meteorology and technology, especiallychronometry and the manufacture of fine earthenware.[2]
He was born inGeneva,Republic of Geneva on 23 July 1752, the son of Charles Pictet, a military officer serving in themercenary troops of theNetherlands, and his wife, Marie Dunant.[3]
Marc-Auguste studied natural philosophy andlaw at theAcademy of Geneva and qualified as a lawyer in 1774.[4] After one year in England (1775–76), he became assistant toJacques-André Mallet at theGeneva Observatory and took an interest inmeteorology andmap-making. In 1778, he made his first trip around theMont-Blanc with his masterHorace-Bénédict de Saussure. In 1786, he would succeed him as professor of natural philosophy at the Academy of Geneva.[5]
By this time, he had assisted Saussure with an experiment that demonstrated the existence of what would later be calledinfra-red radiation. In a follow-up experiment, named 'Pictet's experiment' byCount Rumford, Pictet discovered that by focusing the radiation from a flask of ice onto a thermometer using two concave mirrors, the effects ofcold could be reflected in the same way as the effects ofheat.[6] The result of his experiments on heat was published in 1790 asEssai sur le feu (English translation:An Essay on Fire, 1791). At this time he had already converted toLavoisier'sideas on chemistry.
In 1791, Pictet was one of the twelve founding members of theGeneva Society of Physics and Natural History [fr]. In 1796, he, his younger brotherCharles, and his friendFrédéric-Guillaume Maurice began editing a monthly periodical entitledBibliothèque Britannique, which carried translations of significant scientific papers published in English by scholars such asDavy,Hall, Herschel,Leslie,Playfair, Rumford andWollaston. In addition to scientific and technical topics, the journal published extracts of British literature and articles on agriculture.[7] After 1815, this periodical included other European materials (mainly French, German and Italian) and took from then on the name ofBibliothèque Universelle de Genève.
As the second director of the Geneva Observatory (1790–1819), Pictet oversaw the installation of ameteorological station. In 1817, he established an additional station onGreat St. Bernard mountain in theAlps.
In 1815, the year Geneva adhered to theSwiss Confederation, Pictet,Henri-Albert Gosse [fr] andJakob Samuel Wyttenbach [de] were the main agents in the creation of theSwiss Society of Natural Sciences [fr].
Pictet was a Fellow of theRoyal Society of London from 1791,[8] a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Edinburgh from 1796,[9] an"associé libre" of theAcadémie des Sciences from 1802,[10] and a member of theBavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities from 1808.[11] His expertise, relationships and correspondence network included hundreds of scholars,[12] extending throughout Western Europe and as far as the United States. In a letter to PresidentGeorge Washington in 1795,Thomas Jefferson wrote that he saw Pictet and his colleagues (including Saussure andSenebrier) as"standing foremost among the literati of Europe".[13][14]
Since 1990, the Geneva Society of Physics and Natural History has offered a yearly award in history of science called theMarc-Auguste Pictet Prize [fr]. It also awards a yearly medal to "a scholar whose work is recognized as an authority in the history of science". Winners are chosen by a panel ofUniversity of Geneva professors and field experts.
The lunar craterPictet was named in his honour in 1935 by astronomersBlagg andMüller.[15]
In 1766, he married Susanne Francoise Turrettini (1757–1811). The couple had three daughters: Dorothée Marie Anne (1777–1841), who married theSwiss Councillor of StateIsaac Vernet [fr], Caroline (1780–1841) and Albertine (1785–1834).[16]
