Eugène Cosserat
Encyclopedia
Eugène-Maurice-Pierre Cosserat (4 March 1866 – 31 May 1931) was a French
mathematician
and astronomer
.
Born in Amiens
, he studied at the École Normale Supérieure
from 1883 to 1888.
He was on Science faculty of Toulouse University from 1889 and director of its observatory from 1908, a position he held for the rest of his life.
He was elected to the Académie des Sciences in 1919.
His studies included the rings
and satellites of Saturn, comets and double stars, but is best remembered for work with his engineer brother François on surface mechanics
, particularly problems of elasticity
.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
and astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
.
Born in Amiens
Amiens
Amiens is a city and commune in northern France, north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in Picardy...
, he studied at the École Normale Supérieure
École Normale Supérieure
The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...
from 1883 to 1888.
He was on Science faculty of Toulouse University from 1889 and director of its observatory from 1908, a position he held for the rest of his life.
He was elected to the Académie des Sciences in 1919.
His studies included the rings
Rings of Saturn
The rings of Saturn are the most extensive planetary ring system of any planet in the Solar System. They consist of countless small particles, ranging in size from micrometres to metres, that form clumps that in turn orbit about Saturn...
and satellites of Saturn, comets and double stars, but is best remembered for work with his engineer brother François on surface mechanics
Capillary surface
In fluid mechanics and mathematics, a capillary surface is a surface that represents the interface between two different fluids. As a consequence of being a surface, a capillary surface has no thickness in slight contrast with most real fluid interfaces....
, particularly problems of elasticity
Elasticity (physics)
In physics, elasticity is the physical property of a material that returns to its original shape after the stress that made it deform or distort is removed. The relative amount of deformation is called the strain....
.
Sources
- Who's Who in Science, pub. Marquis Who's Who, Chicago Ill. 1968 ISBN 8379-1001-3
- J R Levy, Biography in Dictionary of Scientific Biography (New York 1970-1990)
- L Montangerand, Eloge de Cosserat, Ann. de l'Observatoire de Toulouse 10 (1933), 20-30.