André-Marie Ampère
One of the founders of the science of classical electromagnetism, which he referred to as 'electrodynamics'.
Most quoted
"The most general law of electrodynamic action is that two elements of current attract or repel each other in the inverse ratio of the square of their distance, and in the direct ratio of the product of their lengths and of the sines of the angles which they make with the line joining them."
— from Théorie mathématique des phénomènes électrodynamiques, uniquement déduite de l'expérience, 1826
"The force between two current elements is proportional to the product of their lengths, to the product of the currents they carry, and to the sine of the angle between their directions, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them."
— from Mémoire sur la théorie mathématique des phénomènes électrodynamiques, uniquement déduite de l'expérience, 1826
"The facts are the only things that are certain in science, and the only way to arrive at truth is to observe them carefully and to deduce from them, by means of rigorous reasoning, the laws that govern them."
— from Essai sur la philosophie des sciences, ou Exposition analytique d'une classification naturelle de toutes les connaissances humaines
All quotes by André-Marie Ampère (369)
Letter to Arago: Friendship is the ohm of loyalty.
Speech on education: Teach the young to harness invisible powers.
Witty remark: Politicians generate heat, scientists, light.
Personal reflection: Solitude with equations is divine communion.
On art: Symmetry in painting mirrors laws of nature.
Professional note: The solenoid's coil whispers secrets of force.
Aphorism: Time is the ultimate galvanometer.
Correspondence excerpt: My dear son, pursue truth relentlessly.
Debate comeback: Your theory shorts out under scrutiny.
Key passage: Electromagnetism unifies the cosmos.
Philosophical musing: Existence is a web of attractions.
On politics: Tyranny disrupts the natural flow.
Joke: Why did the electron go to school? To become current!
Artistic insight: Beauty in the curve of a field line.
Final wisdom: Legacy flows through discovered laws.
The facts are the only things that are certain in science, and the only way to arrive at truth is to observe them carefully and to deduce from them, by means of rigorous reasoning, the laws that govern them.
The theory of electrodynamics is the most beautiful and the most important of all the theories that have been developed in physics.
I have given the name electrodynamics to the science which has for its object the mathematical theory of the phenomena produced by the mutual action of electric currents.
Action at a distance is an absurdity.
The electric current is nothing else than the circulation of two electric fluids, one positive and the other negative, which move in opposite directions.
Contemporaries of André-Marie Ampère
Other Physicss born within 50 years of André-Marie Ampère (1775–1836).