Elisée Bouny

Elisée Bouny (born June 26, 1872 in Sainte-Foy-la-Grande , † October 28, 1900 in Paris ) was a French physician and physiologist. He is credited with the construction of the world's first bicycle ergometer , which was used for experimental sports physiological studies.

Life

Growing up in the French province near Bordeaux , Bouny was, according to contemporary descriptions, a seldom bright head of ancient stoic equanimity ( Un si rare esprit! Il a été d´un stoicisme antique ). He began studying medicine at the Paris Medical Faculty in 1890. Already during his studies, the student, who was enthusiastic about cycling, was engaged in experimental studies at the Physiological Institute. On July 20, 1899, he defended his doctoral thesis on the physiology of the lower extremities in cycling at the Medical Faculty of Paris with extremely good success . Bouny did not seek practical medical practice. The reason for this was probably a serious chronic illness, which he succumbed to on October 28, 1900 in Paris. Elisée Bouny was only 28 years old.

plant

The enthusiasm for cycling, which already prevailed in France at the end of the 19th century, encouraged scientific research such as questions of the cheapest gear ratio, the crank length and the most economical pedaling style when cycling. Commissioned by the Paris Medical Academy, the well-known movement researcher Étienne-Jules Marey investigated work performance and the best possible use of force while cycling.

Marey entrusted medical student Elisée Bouny with the experimental testing of the step force meter he designed in 1895. He carried out a series of experiments on his own in the physiologique station at Prinzenpark . He made a number of improvements to Marey's dynamometer . In the spring of 1896, Bouny experimented with his dynamometer on the winter cycling track on the Paris field of Mars . The result was finally a current in the manner of exercise bike jacked-up bicycle whose rear was replaced by an iron flywheel. A brake dynamometer attached to it measured pedal resistance and pedaling speeds. This first bicycle ergometer was presented in April 1897. Further experiments and improvements - also the basis for Bouny's dissertation - have shown, among other things, that cyclists develop their maximum strength between 100 and 120 pedal revolutions per minute without being able to assess the work done themselves.

literature

• Johann Peter Prince: Elisée Bouny. The inventor of the bicycle ergometer. In: Kurt Tittel , Karl-Hans Arndt , Wildor Hollmann (Hrsg.): Sports medicine. Yesterday Today Tomorrow. Report from the anniversary symposium of the German Sports Medical Association, Oberhof from September 25 to 27, 1992. Barth, Leipzig et al. 1993, ISBN 3-335-00346-2 , pp. 78-81 ( Sports medicine series of the German University of Physical Culture Leipzig and the Research Institute for Physical culture and sport Leipzig 28).

Web links

• Andrew R. Coggan: A brief history of training and racing with a power meter