André-Marie Ampère

Absorbing biography of the creative and destructive scientific genius and tragic life of André-Marie Ampère.

Renowned for his new branch of physics - electrodynamics - and his original and significant contributions to mathematics and chemistry. With no formal education, he embraced the optimism of the Enlightenment, and Catholicism. This, his only English biography, illuminates his contributions, epoch, and creative genius.In this authoritative biography, James Hofmann examines the extraordinary life of André-Marie Ampère, who made original, significant contributions to mathematics and chemistry and is renowned for his new branch of physics - electrodynamics. A member of the Académie des Sciences, and professor at the École Polytechnique, his accomplishments are remarkable in view of his tragic personal life. One of the elite of early nineteenth-century Parisian science, yet having no formal education, he embraced the scientific optimism of the Enlightenment, and the Catholic faith. This combination of intellectual expectation and emotional spirituality made Ampère's genius both destructive and extraordinarily creative. This, the only biography available in the English language, illuminates the scientific contributions of an individual and his epoch, and provides a fascinating insight into the workings of the scientific mind.