Science · Technology · Philosophy · 1775–1836
Born: 20 January 1775 · Died: 10 June 1836 · Age at death: 61
André-Marie Ampère died aged 61. He was born on 20 January 1775 and died on 10 June 1836.
French physicist who founded electrodynamics; the ampere, the unit of electric current, is named after him
Did you know?A child prodigy, he reportedly worked out complex mathematical sums using pebbles and biscuits before he could write.
André-Marie Ampère founded the science of electrodynamics. When he heard that a current could move a compass needle, he went to work at once. Within weeks he showed that electric currents attract and repel each other. He worked out the mathematics of the link. He was largely self-taught. His father was executed in the Revolution. The unit of electric current, the amp, bears his name.
André-Marie Ampère (20 January 1775 – 10 June 1836) was a French physicist and mathematician who was one of the founders of the science of classical electromagnetism, which he referred to as electrodynamics. He made also important contributions in chemistry and philosophy.
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Profile
French physicist, 1775–1836
André-Marie Ampère was born in Lyon on 20 January 1775.
He taught himself mathematics as a child.
He announced his laws of electrodynamics in 1820.
He taught at the École Polytechnique.
Career highlights
Did you know?He invented the solenoid.
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