Editing Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac

{{short description|French chemist and physicist (1778–1850)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac
| image             = Gaylussac.jpg
| image_size        = 225px
| caption           = 
| birth_date        = {{birth-date|6 December 1778}}
| birth_place       = [[Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat]], [[Kingdom of France]]
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|df=y|1850|5|9|1778|12|6}}
| death_place       = [[Paris]], [[French Second Republic|France]]
| residence         = 
| citizenship       = 
| nationality       = French
| ethnicity         = 
| field             = [[Chemistry]]
| work_institutions = 
| alma_mater        = ''[[École polytechnique]]''
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| doctoral_students = 
| known_for         = [[Gay-Lussac's law]]<br>[[Alcohol_by_volume|Degrees Gay-Lussac]]<br>Co-discovery of [[boron]]<br>[[Combustion analysis]]<br>[[Cyanogen]]
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| prizes            = [[Volta Prize|Galvanism Prize]] (1809)<br>[[List of recipients of the Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts|Pour le Mérite]] (1842)<br>[[List of fellows of the Royal Society G, H, I|ForMemRS]] (1815)
| religion          = 
| footnotes         = 
| signature         = Gay-Lussac Signature.svg
| birth_name        = Joseph Louis Gay
}}
'''Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|ɡ|eɪ|ˈ|l|uː|s|æ|k}} {{respell|gay|LOO|sak}},<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/gay-lussac|title=Gay-Lussac|work=[[Collins English Dictionary]]|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|access-date=6 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Gay-Lussac%27s+law |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511221758/https://www.lexico.com/definition/gay-lussac's_law?s=t |url-status=dead |archive-date=2021-05-11 |title=Gay-Lussac's law |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|US|ˌ|g|eɪ|l|ə|ˈ|s|æ|k}} {{respell|GAY|lə|SAK}};<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gay-lussac "Gay-Lussac"]. ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''.</ref><ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Gay-Lussac|access-date=6 August 2019}}</ref> {{IPA|fr|ʒozɛf lwi ɡɛlysak|lang}}; 6 December 1778&nbsp;– 9 May 1850) was a [[French people|French]] [[chemist]] and [[physicist]]. He is known mostly for his discovery that water is made of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen by volume (with [[Alexander von Humboldt]]), for [[Gay-Lussac's law|two laws]] related to [[gas]]es, and for his work on alcohol–water mixtures, which led to the [[degrees Gay-Lussac]] used to measure alcoholic beverages in many countries.

== Biography ==
[[File:Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French physician and scientist (1778–1850) MET 31566.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.55|Gay-Lussac by [[David d'Angers]], 1830s]]
Gay-Lussac was born at [[Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat]] in the present-day department of [[Haute-Vienne]].<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Gay-Lussac, Joseph Louis |volume=11 |page=542}}</ref>

His father, Anthony Gay, son of a doctor, was a lawyer and prosecutor and worked as a judge in Noblat Bridge.<ref>Biographical Dictionary Ancient and Modern, Volume 16, Michaud</ref> Father of two sons and three daughters, he owned much of the Lussac village and began to add the name of this hamlet to his name, following a custom of the [[Ancien Régime]]. Towards the year 1803, father and son formally adopted the name Gay-Lussac.<ref>Biographical sketch by Gay de Vernon</ref> During the [[French Revolution|Revolution]], under the [[Law of Suspects]], his father, former king's attorney, was imprisoned in Saint Léonard from 1793 to 1794.

Gay-Lussac received his early education at the hands of the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] Abbey of Bourdeix.<ref>{{Cite web|title = December 6: Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac|url = http://freethoughtalmanac.com/?p=4190|website = Freethought Almanac|access-date = 2016-02-04|archive-date = 2016-03-14|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160314053858/http://freethoughtalmanac.com/?p=4190|url-status = dead}}</ref> In the care of the Abbot of Dumonteil, he began his education in Paris, finally entering the [[École Polytechnique]] in 1798.

Three years later, Gay-Lussac transferred to the [[École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées|École des Ponts et Chaussées]], and shortly afterward was assigned to [[C. L. Berthollet]] as his assistant. In 1804 he was appointed répétiteur (demonstrator) to [[Antoine François Fourcroy]] at the École Polytechnique, whom he succeeded in 1809 as professor of chemistry. From 1809 to 1832, he was also the professor of physics at the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]], a post which he only resigned for the chair of chemistry at the [[Jardin des Plantes]]. In 1821, he was elected a foreign member of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]. In 1831 he was elected to represent Haute-Vienne in the chamber of deputies, and in 1839 he entered the chamber of peers. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1832.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter G|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterG.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=8 September 2016}}</ref>

Gay-Lussac married Geneviève-Marie-Joseph Rojot in 1809. He had first met her when she worked as a linen draper's shop assistant; he noticed she was studying a chemistry textbook under the counter, which led to their acquaintance. The couple had five children, of whom the eldest (Jules) became a student of [[Justus Liebig]] in Giessen. Some publications by Jules are mistaken as his father's today since they share the same first initial (J. Gay-Lussac).

Gay-Lussac had a reputation as one of the greatest European scientists of his day, well justified by his innumerable discoveries in both chemistry and physics. The restored royalty made him a Peer of France, although he worked politically with the anti-clerical party. He was closely associated with [[François Arago]].

Gay-Lussac died in Paris, and his grave is there at [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]]. His name is one of the [[List of the 72 names on the Eiffel Tower|72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower]].

[[Image:Early flight 02561u (5).jpg|thumb|upright|Gay-Lussac and [[Jean-Baptiste Biot|Biot]] ascend in a hydrogen balloon, 1804. Illustration from the late 19th century.]]
== Achievements ==
[[File:Gay-Lussac (by Tardieu).jpg|thumb|upright|left|Engraving of Gay-Lussac (1824)]]
* 1802 – Gay-Lussac first published the law that at constant pressure, the volume of any gas increases in proportion to its absolute temperature. Since in his paper announcing the law he cited earlier unpublished work on this subject by [[Jacques Charles]], the law is usually called ''[[Charles's law]]'', though some sources use the expression ''[[Gay-Lussac's law]]''.  This law was independently and nearly simultaneously stated by [[John Dalton]].
* 1804 – He and [[Jean-Baptiste Biot]] made a hydrogen-balloon ascent; a second ascent the same year by Gay-Lussac alone attained a height of {{convert|7016|m|ft}} in an early investigation of the [[Earth's atmosphere]]. He wanted to collect air samples at different heights to record differences in temperature and moisture.
* 1805 – Together with his friend and scientific collaborator [[Alexander von Humboldt]], he discovered that the composition of the atmosphere does not change with decreasing pressure (increasing altitude). They also discovered that water is formed by two parts of hydrogen and one part of oxygen (by volume).
* 1808 – He was the co-discoverer of [[boron]].
* 1808 – Discovery and announcement of the [[Gay-Lussac's law|law of combining volumes of gases]]; published in 1809.
* 1810 – In collaboration with [[Louis Jacques Thénard]], he developed a method for quantitative elemental organic combustion analysis by measuring the CO<sub>2</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>O evolved when an organic compound is fully oxidized by potassium chlorate. He also summarised the equation of alcoholic [[fermentation]].
* 1811 – He recognized [[iodine]] as a new element, described its properties, and suggested the name ''iode''.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last=Ede |first=A.
 |year=2006
 |title=The Chemical Element: A Historical Perspective
 |page=133
 |publisher=[[Greenwood Press]]
 |isbn=0-313-33304-1
}}</ref>
* 1815 – He synthesized [[cyanogen]], determined its empirical formula, and named it.
* 1824 – He developed an improved version of the [[burette]] that included a side arm, and coined the terms "[[pipette]]" and "burette" in an 1824 paper about the standardization of indigo solutions.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last=Rosenfeld |first=L.
 |year=1999
 |title=Four Centuries of Clinical Chemistry
 |pages=72–75
 |publisher=[[CRC Press]]
 |isbn=90-5699-645-2
}}</ref>

== Awards and honours ==
[[File:Gaylussit - Lagunillas, Venezuela.jpg|thumb|Mineral Gaylussite of Lagunillas, at Bonn Museum]]
* Along with Thénard, Gay Lussac received 30,000 francs from [[Napoleon]] in the third edition of the [[Volta Prize|Galvanism Prize]] in 1809 for their research.
* In Paris, a street and a hotel near the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]] are named after him as are a square and a street in his birthplace, [[Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat]].
* In Australia, the "Gay-Lussac Room" at AB Mauri STC, Sydney, was named after him in honour of his work with yeast fermentation.
* [[Gaylussite]] is a mineral salt formed as an [[evaporite]] from alkali [[Lake|lacustrine]] waters. [[Jean-Baptiste Boussingault]] (1801 – 1887) was the first to describe it in 1826 for an occurrence in [[Lagunillas, Mérida|Lagunillas]], [[Mérida, Mérida|Mérida]], [[Venezuela]]. The mineral was named in honour of Gay Lussac.<ref name=Mindat>[http://www.mindat.org/min-1662.html Mindat]</ref>

== Academic lineage ==
[[File:Gay Lussac grave.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|Grave of Gay-Lussac]]
{| class=" wiki table"
|- style="text-align: center;"
|+ Academic genealogy
|- style="text-align: center;"
! width="50%" |Notable teachers
! width="50%" |Notable students
|- valign=top
|
* [[C. L. Berthollet]] (1748–1822), Paris
* [[Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy]] (1755–1809), Paris
|
* [[Jean-Jacques Colin]] (1784–1865), répétiteur in 1809–1817
* [[Pierre Robiquet]] (1780–1840), répétiteur in 1813–1818
* [[César-Mansuète Despretz|César Despretz]] (1791–1863), répétiteur in 1817–?
* [[Jules Pelouze]] (1807–1867), répétiteur in 1831–1837?
* [[Edmond Frémy]] (1814–1894)
* [[Henri-Victor Regnault]] (1810–1878)
* [[Justus Liebig]] (1803–1873)
|}

== Publications ==
*'' Chemistry courses of the École Polytechnique'', Vol.1&2
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=1FAIAAAAIAAJ ''Lessons of Physics''], Faculty of Sciences in Paris, (November 6, 1827, March 18, 1828)

== See also ==
*[[Brin process]]
*[[Joule expansion]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{commons category|Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac}}
{{wikisource author}}
*{{cite journal
 |last=Partington |first=J. R.
 |year=1950
 |title=J. L. Gay-Lussac (1778–1850)
 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]
 |volume=165 |issue=4201 |pages=708–709
 |bibcode=1950Natur.165..708P
 |doi=10.1038/165708a0
 |pmid=15416794
|s2cid=36973995
 }}
*{{cite journal
 |last1=Gay-Lussac |first1=L. J.
 |last2=von Humboldt |first2=A.
 |year=1805
 |title=Expériences sur les moyens eudiométriques et sur la proportion des principes constituans de l'atmosphère
 |journal=[[Journal de Physique]]
 |volume=60 
}}
*{{cite book
 |last1=Crosland |first=M.
 |year=1978
 |title=Gay-Lussac, Scientist and Bourgeois
 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]
 |isbn=0-521-21979-5
}}

* [http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/G/GAY/joseph-louis-gay-lussac.html Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French chemist (1778–1850)] from the Encyclopædia Britannica, 10th Edition (1902)
* [https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=103015796427039682952.00046ac5940f4335f749d&ll=48.845034,2.342105&spn=0.00723,0.015557&z=16 Rue Gay-Lussac], Paris
* Gay-Lussac's article (1809) "On the combination of gaseous substances", online and analyzed on ''[https://www.bibnum.education.fr/chimie/theorie-chimique/sur-la-combinaison-des-substances-gazeuses-les-unes-avec-les-autres BibNum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616081013/https://www.bibnum.education.fr/chimie/theorie-chimique/sur-la-combinaison-des-substances-gazeuses-les-unes-avec-les-autres |date=2019-06-16 }}'' (for English, click 'à télécharger').
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gay-Lussac, Joseph Louis}}
[[Category:École Polytechnique alumni]]
[[Category:École des Ponts ParisTech alumni]]
[[Category:Corps des ponts]]
[[Category:1778 births]]
[[Category:1850 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Haute-Vienne]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Paris]]
[[Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery]]
[[Category:Discoverers of chemical elements]]
[[Category:Members of the French Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)]]
[[Category:French atheists]]
[[Category:19th-century French chemists]]
[[Category:19th-century French physicists]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Boron]]
[[Category:Flight altitude record holders]]
[[Category:French aviation record holders]]
[[Category:French fluid dynamicists]]