Pierre Antoine Favre

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Pierre Antoine Favre (20 February 1813 – 17 February 1880) was a French physician-turned and chemist who specialized in conducting experiments in thermochemistry. In his work from 1852 along with heat produced by chemical reactions, he popularized the use of the unit "calorie".

Favre was born in Lyons and received a medical degree from Paris University in 1835. He shifted to study chemistry after being inspired by Jean Dumas' lectures and joined Eugene Peligot to study uranium salts. He the studied physiological chemistry under Louis Jecker, examining the composition of human sweat, forty litres of which he collected.[1] He then took up a teaching position in chemistry. In 1843 he identified the atomic weight of zinc. His major contribution from 1844 to 1849 was in the measurement of heat evolved in chemical reactions.[2] It has been claimed that he coined the term "calorie" although he only adopted the unit and made it more popular among French chemists.[3] He joined the science faculty at Marseille in 1856 becoming dean in 1872 but retired in 1878 due to poor health.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ Favre P-A. (1852). "Recherches sur la Composition Chimique de la Sueur Chez l'Homme". Comptes Rendus. 35: 721–725.
  2. ^ "Pierre Antoine Favre". Nature. 21 (540): 417–418. 1880. Bibcode:1880Natur..21..417.. doi:10.1038/021417d0.
  3. ^ Hargrove, J. L. (2006). "History of the Calorie in Nutrition". The Journal of Nutrition. 136 (12): 2957–2961. doi:10.1093/jn/136.12.2957. PMID 17116702.
  4. ^ "Pierre-Antoine Favre". Revista CENIC Ciencias Químicas. 41 (2): 131–143. 2010.
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