Wheatstone, Sir Charles

Wheatstone, Sir Charles

▪ British physicist

born Feb. 6, 1802, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, Eng.
died Oct. 19, 1875, Paris
  English physicist who popularized the Wheatstone bridge, a device that accurately measured electrical resistance and became widely used in laboratories.

      Wheatstone was appointed professor of experimental philosophy at King's College, London, in 1834, the same year that he used a revolving mirror in an experiment to measure the speed of electricity in a conductor. The same revolving mirror, by his suggestion, was later used in measurements of the speed of light. Three years later, with Sir William Fothergill Cooke (Cooke, Sir William Fothergill) of England, he patented an early telegraph. In 1843, he brought to notice the Wheatstone bridge, a device invented by British mathematician Samuel Christie.

      His own inventions include the concertina, a type of small accordion, and the stereoscope, a device for observing pictures in three dimensions still used in viewing X-rays and aerial photographs. He initiated the use of electromagnets in electric generators and invented the Playfair cipher, which is based on substituting different pairs of letters for paired letters in the message. He was knighted in 1868.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Wheatstone, Sir Charles — Wheatstone , Sir Charles …   Scientists

  • Wheatstone , Sir Charles — (1802–1875) British physicist After a private education in his native city of Gloucester, Wheatstone began business in London as a musical instrument maker (1823). His early scientific researches were in acoustics and optics and his contributions …   Scientists

  • WHEATSTONE, SIR CHARLES —    celebrated physicist and electrician, born near Gloucester; was a man of much native ingenuity, and gave early proof of it; was appointed professor of Experimental Philosophy in King s College, London, and distinguished himself by his… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Sir Charles — Chaplin (better known as Charlie Chaplin); Sir Charles Groves (conductor); Sir Charles Halle (conductor pianist and founder of Manchester’s Halle Orchestra); Sir Charles Mackerras (conductor); Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (composer conductor… …   Eponyms, nicknames, and geographical games

  • Sir Charles Wheatstone — noun English physicist and inventor who devised the Wheatstone bridge (1802 1875) • Syn: ↑Wheatstone • Instance Hypernyms: ↑physicist, ↑inventor, ↑discoverer, ↑artificer …   Useful english dictionary

  • Charles Wheatstone — Sir Charles Wheatstone [ˈwiːtstən] (* 6. Februar 1802 in Gloucester; † 19. Oktober 1875 in Paris) war ein britischer Physiker …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Wheatstone — Charles Wheatstone Sir Charles Wheatstone [ˈwiːtstən] (* 6. Februar 1802 in Gloucester; † 19. Oktober 1875 in Paris) war ein britischer Physiker. Lebe …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Charles Wheatstone — Charles Wheatstone. Sir Charles Wheatstone (Gloucester, 6 de febrero de 1802 París, 19 de octubre de 1875) fue un científico e inventor británico, que destacó durante la época victoriana, incluyendo el Estereoscopio (aparato que cre …   Wikipedia Español

  • WHEATSTONE (C.) — WHEATSTONE sir CHARLES (1802 1875) Physicien anglais né à Gloucester et mort à Paris. Wheatstone publie ses premiers travaux en acoustique alors qu’il était employé chez un marchand d’instruments de musique (1823). En 1837, après avoir étudié la… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Wheatstone — (sir Charles) (1802 1875) physicien anglais. Il fit progresser la télégraphie électrique …   Encyclopédie Universelle

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”