Marc-Auguste Pictet

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Pictet

Marc-Auguste Pictet Turrettini (born July 23, 1752 in Geneva , † April 19, 1825 in Geneva) was a Swiss natural scientist and science journalist.

After studying science and law at the Geneva Academy, he lived for a year in England (1775–76), where he was introduced to astronomy. On his return he worked as assistant to the astronomer Jacques-André Mallet at the Geneva Observatory. He is also enthusiastic about meteorology, technology and the experimental study of heat.

He then became the travel companion of his former professor Horace-Bénédict de Saussure , whom he succeeded as professor in 1786 and later (1799) as president of the Société des Arts. In 1790 he became director of the Geneva observatory. In 1790 his Essai sur le feu was finally published, which was translated into German in the same year ( experiment on fire ).

In 1796 he founded the Bibliothèque britannique ( Bibliothèque universelle since 1816 ) with his brother, the diplomat Charles Pictet de Rochemont , and Frédéric-Guillaume Maurice (1750–1826 ), which aimed to disseminate all important discoveries made in England and published works. His scientific correspondence soon connected hundreds of researchers, mainly from France, Great Britain, Italy and Switzerland.

In the interests of his hometown, he negotiated with the French Republic in 1798 and obtained religious freedom for Geneva as well as his own administration of the public institutions relating to the inherited common property. In 1802 he became a member of the Tribunate, in 1803 secretary of this authority and in 1807 one of the 15 inspectors general of public education. After the restoration , he also devoted himself to meteorology . In 1817 he founded an observatory on the Great St. Bernhard .

In 1791 Pictet was elected a member of the Royal Society and in 1796 of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . In 1802 he became "associé libre" of the French " Académie des Sciences " and in 1808 a corresponding member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences . In 1821 he was elected a member of the Leopoldina .

The lunar crater Pictet is named after him.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ David Marshall Bickerton, Marc-Auguste and Charles Pictet, the "Bibliothèque britannique" (1796-1815), and the dissemination of British literature and science on the Continent, Geneva, Slatkine, 1986
  2. ↑ René Sigrist (ed.), Marc-Auguste Pictet, Correspondance: sciences et techniques , Geneva, Slatkine, 1996–2004 (4 vol.)
  3. ^ Entry on Pictet, Marc-Auguste (1752 - 1825) in the archive of the Royal Society , London
  4. ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. (PDF file) Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed March 30, 2020 .
  5. ^ Member entry by Marc-Auguste Pictet (with picture) at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences , accessed on February 14, 2016.
  6. ^ Member entry by Marc-Auguste Pictet at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on February 14, 2016.

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personal data
SURNAME Pictet, Marc-Auguste
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss natural scientist
DATE OF BIRTH July 23, 1752
PLACE OF BIRTH Geneva
DATE OF DEATH April 19, 1825
Place of death Geneva