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List of scientists whose names are used as units

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Many scientists have been recognized with the assignment of their names as international units by the International Committee for Weights and Measures or as non-SI units. The International System of Units (abbreviated SI from French: Système international d'unités) is the most widely used system of units of measurement. There are 7 base units and 22 derived units[1] (excluding compound units). These units are used both in science and in commerce. Two of the base SI units and 17 of the derived units are named after scientists.[2] 28 non-SI units are named after scientists. By this convention, their names are immortalised. As a rule, the SI units are written in lowercase letters, but symbols of units derived from the name of a person begin with a capital letter.

Scientists and SI units

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Base unit[note 1] Derived unit

(colour legend)

Name[3][4] Life Nationality Quantity[5] SI unit Image
André-Marie Ampère[6] 1775–1836 FranceFrench Electric current[7] ampere (A)
(Base unit)
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin[8] 1824–1907 United KingdomBritish (ScotlandScottish-Northern IrelandNorthern Irish) Thermodynamic temperature[9] kelvin (K)
(Base unit)
Blaise Pascal[10] 1623–1662 FranceFrench Pressure[11] pascal (Pa)
Isaac Newton[12] 1643–1727 United KingdomBritish (EnglandEnglish) Force[13] newton (N)
Anders Celsius[14] 1701–1744 SwedenSwedish Temperature[15] degree Celsius (°C)
Charles-Augustin de Coulomb[16] 1736–1806 FranceFrench Electric charge[17] coulomb (C)
James Watt[18] 1736–1819 United KingdomBritish (ScotlandScottish) Power[19] watt (W)
Alessandro Volta[20] 1745–1827 ItalyItalian Electric potential[21] volt (V)
Georg Simon Ohm[22] 1789–1855 GermanyGerman Electrical resistance[23] ohm (Ω)
Michael Faraday[24] 1791–1867 United KingdomBritish (EnglandEnglish) Capacitance[25] farad (F)
Joseph Henry[26] 1797–1878 United StatesAmerican Inductance[27] henry (H)
Wilhelm Eduard Weber[28] 1804–1891 GermanyGerman Magnetic flux[29] weber (Wb)
Ernst Werner von Siemens[30] 1816–1892 GermanyGerman Conductance[31] siemens (S)
James Prescott Joule[32] 1818–1889 United KingdomBritish (EnglandEnglish) Energy[33] joule (J)
Antoine Henri Becquerel[34] 1852–1908 FranceFrench Radioactivity becquerel (Bq)
Nikola Tesla[35] 1856–1943 SerbiaSerbian[note 2]-United StatesAmerican Magnetic flux density[36] tesla (T)
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz[37] 1857–1894 GermanyGerman Frequency[38] hertz (Hz)
Rolf Maximilian Sievert[39] 1896–1966 SwedenSwedish Dose equivalent of radiation[citation needed] sievert (Sv)
Louis Harold Gray[40] 1905–1965 United KingdomBritish (EnglandEnglish) Absorbed dose of radiation[41] gray (Gy)

Scientists and non-SI units

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Name of the scientist[42][43] Life Nationality Quantity Unit[note 3] Image
William Gilbert 1544–1603 United KingdomBritish (EnglandEnglish) Magnetomotive force gilbert (Gi)
John Napier 1550–1617 United KingdomBritish (ScotlandScottish) Magnitude (ln, dimensionless) neper (Np)
Galileo Galilei 1564–1642 ItalyItalian Acceleration gal (Gal)
Evangelista Torricelli 1608–1647 ItalyItalian Pressure torr (Torr)
René Réaumur 1683–1757 FranceFrench Temperature degree Reaumur (°R)
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit 1686–1736 PolandPolish-NetherlandsDutch-GermanyGerman Temperature degree Fahrenheit (°F)
Johann Heinrich Lambert 1728–1777 GermanyGerman Luminance lambert (L)
John Dalton 1766–1844 United KingdomBritish Mass (atomic) dalton (Da)
Hans Christian Ørsted 1777–1851 DenmarkDanish Magnetic field oersted (Oe)
Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss 1777–1855 GermanyGerman Magnetic flux density gauss (G)
Michael Faraday 1791–1867 United KingdomBritish (EnglandEnglish) Electric charge faraday (F)
Jean Léonard Marie Poiseuille 1797–1869 FranceFrench Dynamic viscosity poise (P)
Anders Jonas Ångström 1814–1874 SwedenSwedish Length angstrom (Å)
Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet 1818–1903 United KingdomBritish Kinematic viscosity stokes (St)
William John Macquorn Rankine 1820–1872 United KingdomBritish (ScotlandScottish) Thermodynamic temperature degree Rankine (°Ra )
James Clerk Maxwell 1831–1879 United KingdomBritish (ScotlandScottish) Magnetic flux maxwell (Mx)
Samuel Pierpont Langley 1834–1906 United StatesAmerican Energy intensity langley (Ly)
Ernst Mach 1838–1916 AustriaAustrian Speed Mach number (M)
John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh 1842–1919 United KingdomBritish Acoustic impedance rayl
Wilhelm Röntgen 1845–1923 GermanyGerman Ionizing radiation röntgen (R)
Alexander Graham Bell 1847–1922 United KingdomBritish (ScotlandScottish)-United StatesAmerican Magnitude (log10, dimensionless) bel (B)
Loránd Eötvös 1848–1919 HungaryHungarian Gravitational gradient eotvos (E)
Heinrich Kayser 1853–1940 GermanyGerman Wavenumber kayser
Joseph John Thomson 1856–1940 United KingdomBritish (EnglandEnglish) Mass-to-charge ratio thomson (Th)
Marie Curie

Pierre Curie

1867–1934

1859–1906

PolandPolish-FranceFrench Radioactivity curie (Ci)
Heinrich Mache 1876–1954 AustriaAustrian Radioactivity Mache (ME)
Peter Debye 1884–1966 NetherlandsDutch Electric dipole moment debye (D)
Karl Guthe Jansky 1905–1950 United StatesAmerican Spectral irradiance jansky (JY)
Wallace Clement Sabine 1868–1919 United StatesAmerican Sound absorption sabin

See also

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Bakwas

  1. ^ There are 5 base units that are not named after people: kilogram, metre, second, mole and candela.
  2. ^ The village he was born was a part of Austrian Empire, now it is in Croatia.
  3. ^ As a rule, the units are written in lowercase letters. But, symbols of units derived from a personal name always begin with a capital letter.

References

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  1. ^ Essential of the SI
  2. ^ Derived SI units with special names
  3. ^ Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia
  4. ^ Elektrik Mühendisliği pp. 247–275
  5. ^ Young and Freedman, p. A-1
  6. ^ |Andre Marie Ampere
  7. ^ Ampere on Dictionary
  8. ^ Kelvin, Lord William Thomson
  9. ^ Inventors
  10. ^ Blaise Pascal
  11. ^ Pa Pascal pressure unit
  12. ^ Isaac Newton's life
  13. ^ Newton
  14. ^ Anders Celsius (1701–1744)
  15. ^ Celsius Definition
  16. ^ Charles Augustin de Coulomb (French Physicist)
  17. ^ Coulomb
  18. ^ BBC Historic figures
  19. ^ Watt conversion)
  20. ^ Inventor Alessandro Volta Biography
  21. ^ Volt
  22. ^ "Georg Simon Ohm". St. Andrews University. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  23. ^ Ohm (unit)
  24. ^ Michael Faraday
  25. ^ Farad
  26. ^ Joseph Henry Archived 9 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ Henry: Definition from Answers
  28. ^ The New International Encyclopaedia: Weber
  29. ^ Weber (unit)
  30. ^ Siemens, Werner von
  31. ^ Siemens (unit)
  32. ^ "Biography:James Prescott Joule". Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  33. ^ What is a Joule ?
  34. ^ Henri Becquerel
  35. ^ Tesla's Biography
  36. ^ Tesla (unit)
  37. ^ Heinrich Hertz
  38. ^ Hertz
  39. ^ Rolf Sievert, the man and the unit
  40. ^ About L.G.Gray
  41. ^ Gray
  42. ^ Isaac Asimov: Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology Pan Reference Books, London, 1972, ISBN 0-330-24323-3
  43. ^ Elektrik Mühendisliği, TBMMO Yayın organı, 259–260, Ankara, 1978

Bibliography

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