Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac
The Frenchman Gay-Lussac was a chemist, but he contributed to physics, meterology, and physiology as well. He was a professor at the École Polytechnique. In 1809 he put forth his now-famous law of combining gas volumes. Although we chiefly remember him for his experiments on gases, he established the elementary nature of sulfur, was the first to prepare sodium and potassium by chemical means, and was the first to isolate boron. Like Charles, he was also a balloonist. In 1804, Gay-Lussac ascended to 23,000 feet in a balloon, an altitude record that stood for many years. In another high-altitude flight, Gay-Lussac had to throw overboard several items to lighten the balloon and gain height. One item he sacrificed was an old kitchen chair that he had used as a seat. The chair landed near a peasant girl minding sheep near a village. After considerable debate, the local citizenry and priest decided that the incident was a miracle, but they wondered why God apparently owned such shabby furniture. |
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