Pierre Lecomte du Noüy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1883-12-20)December 20, 1883 |
| Died | September 22, 1947(1947-09-22) (aged 63) |
| Known for | Du Noüy ring tensiometer Du Noüy ring method Telefinalist hypothesis |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Biophysics |
| Institutions | Rockefeller Institute Pasteur Institute |
Pierre Lecomte du Noüy (French pronunciation:[ləkɔ̃tdynwi];[1] 20 December 1883 – 22 September 1947) was a Frenchbiophysicist andphilosopher. He is probably best remembered by scientists for his work on thesurface tension, and other properties, of liquids.
Du Noüy was a descendant of the French dramatistPierre Corneille. His mother,Hermine Lecomte du Noüy, wrote many novels, one of which,Amitié Amoureuse, was translated into 16 languages and ran for 600 editions in France.
Born and educated inParis, France, du Noüy obtained the degrees of LL.B., Ph.B., Sc.B., Ph.D., and Sc.D.
He was an associate member of theRockefeller Institute working inAlexis Carrel's lab from 1920 through 1928, head for 10 years of the biophysics division of thePasteur Institute,[2] and the author of some 200 published papers.[3]
He invented atensiometer,[4] a scientific apparatus that used hisdu Noüy ring method to measure the surface tension of liquids.[5]
Du Noüy believed that mankind should have confidence in science, but be aware that we know less about the material world than is commonly believed.
Du Noüy converted fromagnosticism toChristianity. He supported atheistic andteleological interpretation ofevolution.[6] In his bookHuman Destiny he wrote that biological evolution continues to aspiritual and moral plane.[6] Du Noüy metPierre Teilhard de Chardin who shared similar interests in evolution andspirituality.[7]
Du Noüy developed his own hypothesis oforthogenesis known as "telefinalism".[8] According to Du Noüy evolution could not occur by chance alone and that on an average since "the beginning of the world it has followed an ascending path, always oriented in the same direction." He accepted naturalistic evolutionary mechanisms such asmutation andnatural selection but believed science could not explain all evolutionary phenomena or the origin of life.[9] According to his telefinalist hypothesis a transcendent cause which he equated withGod is directing the evolutionary process.[6]
His "telefinalist" hypothesis was criticized byCarl Hempel,[10]Leo Koch andGeorge Gaylord Simpson as nonscientific.[6][11]
If telefinalism, by postulating the intervention of an Idea, a Will, a supreme Intelligence, throws a little light on the combined transformations leading through an uninterrupted line to Man, it seems impossible not to see in the particular transformations limited to the species something more than the simple play of physico-chemical forces and chance.Human Destiny, p. 97
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