Joseph Gay-Lussac, French Chemist and Physicist

Joseph Gay-Lussac, French Chemist and Physicist

Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac (December 6, 1778 - May 9, 1850) was a French chemist and physicist known for his studies on the physical properties of gases. His first major investigation concerned the thermal expansion of gases. This was significant in the establishment of the Kelvin temperature scale later in the century. In 1805, he collaborated with Alexander von Humboldt in determining the proportions of hydrogen and oxygen present in water. His last great piece of pure research was on prussic acid in 1815 when he described cyanogen as a compound radicle, prussic acid as a compound of that radicle with hydrogen alone, and the prusiates (cyanides) as compounds of the radicle with metals. His work gave support to Dalton's atomic theory, and formed the basis for Avogadro's law. Collaborating with Thenard, he was the first to isolate the element boron. He died in 1850 at the age of 71. His is one of the 72 names of scientists inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.

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