Andre Ampere (1775 – 1836)

Andre Marie Ampere was a French physicist, mathematician and chemist who founded the science of electrodynamics. Ampere was a child prodigy who mastered advanced mathematics by the age of 12. Ampere grasped the significance of Oersted’s discovery. He carried out a large series of experiments to explore the relationship between current electricity and magnetism. These investigations culminated in 1827 with the publication of the ‘Mathematical Theory of Electrodynamic Phenomena Deduced Solely from Experiments’. He hypothesised that all magnetic phenomena are due to circulating electric currents. Ampere was humble and absentminded. He once forgot an invitation to dine with the Emperor Napoleon. He died of pneumonia at the age of 61. His gravestone bears the epitaph: Tandem Felix (Happy at last).