Jacques-Joseph Ebelmen was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 chemist

Chemist

A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...

 who was a professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 at the Ecole des Mines

École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris

The École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris was created in 1783 by King Louis XVI in order to train intelligent directors of mines. It is one of the most prominent French engineering schoolsThe École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris (also known as Mines ParisTech, École des Mines de...

. Born to Claude Louis Ebelmen, a forest surveyor

Forest management

200px|thumb|right|[[Sustainable development|Sustainable]] forest management carried out by [[Complejo Forestal y Maderero Panguipulli|Complejo Panguipulli]] has contributed to the preservation of the forested landscape around [[Neltume]], a sawmill town in Chile...

, and Jeanne Claude Grenier, he had an efficient and proud childhood.

He attended classes in grammar

Grammar

In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...

 and literature

Literature

Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

 at the Language School at Baume

Baume-les-Dames

Baume-les-Dames is a commune in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.-Population:-External links:*...

, after which he grew interested in the Science

Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

s. Thereafter he attended the elementary mathematics

Elementary mathematics

Elementary mathematics consists of mathematics topics frequently taught at the primary or secondary school levels. The most basic topics in elementary mathematics are arithmetic and geometry...

 classes in Paris at Collège Royal Henry-Le-Grand

Prytanée National Militaire

The Prytanée National Militaire, originally Collège Royal Henry-Le-Grand, is a French school managed by the military, offering regular secondary education as well as special preparatory school classes, equivalent in level to the first years of university, for students who wish to enter French...

, and applied mathematics

Applied mathematics

Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that concerns itself with mathematical methods that are typically used in science, engineering, business, and industry. Thus, "applied mathematics" is a mathematical science with specialized knowledge...

 at the Lycée de Besançon

École Nationale Supérieure de Mécanique et des Microtechniques

The École Nationale Supérieure de Mécanique et des Microtechniques is a French school of engineering. It is part of Polyméca, a network of schools focusing on mechanical engineering.- History :...

. He then enrolled at the École Polytechnique

École Polytechnique

The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...

 in 1831.

In 1836 he was sent to Vesoul

Vesoul

Vesoul is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Franche-Comté in eastern France.The town is the capital of the department, its inhabitants are known in French as Vésuliens.-Notable people:...

 as a Mining Engineer

Mining engineering

Mining engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the practice, the theory, the science, the technology, and application of extracting and processing minerals from a naturally occurring environment. Mining engineering also includes processing minerals for additional value.Mineral...

, and began studying the different ore

Ore

An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....

s at Franche-Comté

Franche-Comté

Franche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...

, where he reputation grew, growing artificial crystals of a number of minerals including corundum

Corundum

Corundum is a crystalline form of aluminium oxide with traces of iron, titanium and chromium. It is a rock-forming mineral. It is one of the naturally clear transparent materials, but can have different colors when impurities are present. Transparent specimens are used as gems, called ruby if red...

, chrysoberyl

Chrysoberyl

The mineral or gemstone chrysoberyl is an aluminate of beryllium with the formula BeAl2O4. The name chrysoberyl is derived from the Greek words χρυσός chrysos and βήρυλλος beryllos, meaning "a gold-white spar". Despite the similarity of their names, chrysoberyl and beryl are two completely...

 and peridot

Peridot

-Chemistry:The chemical composition of peridot is 2SiO4, with Mg in greater quantities than Fe.-Etymology:The origin of the name "peridot" is uncertain...

. He stayed there for four years, before committing himself in 1841 as assistant secretary of Committee of the Annales des Mines and a lecturer of chemistry at École Polytechnique.

In December 1845 he became Chief Engineer of Mines of the Sèvres

Manufacture nationale de Sèvres

The manufacture nationale de Sèvres is a Frit porcelain porcelain tendre factory at Sèvres, France. Formerly a royal, then an imperial factory, the facility is now run by the Ministry of Culture.-Brief history:...

 porcelain

Porcelain

Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...

 manufactory and worked on improved methods of manufacturing ceramic

Ceramic

A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...

s. He was also made Professor of mineral assay

Metallurgical assay

A metallurgical assay is a compositional analysis of an ore, metal, or alloy.Some assay methods are suitable for raw materials; others are more appropriate for finished goods. Raw precious metals are assayed by an assay office...

 at the School of Mines and was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor

Légion d'honneur

The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...

 by King Louis-Philippe in April 1847. He made many improvements regarding the manufacture of porcelain such as the change from coal to wood stoves, the development of the casting

Casting

In metalworking, casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowing it to cool and solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process...

, which resulted in large parts, a lightweight a blameless purity of form, the renovation of the manufacture of bone china

Bone china

Bone china is a type of soft-paste porcelain that is composed of bone ash, feldspathic material and kaolin. It has been defined as ware with a translucent body containing a minimum of 30% of phosphate derived from animal bone and calculated calcium phosphate...

 and vitreous enamel

Vitreous enamel

Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...

 on metal.

After the French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

, he agreed to direct the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers

Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers

The Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers , or National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts, is a doctoral degree-granting higher education establishment operated by the French government, dedicated to providing education and conducting research for the promotion of science and industry...

 for free, where he made the industry take advantage of valuable results of scientific research.

In 1849, he was a member of the jury

Jury

A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...

 Central National Exhibition

French Industrial Exposition of 1844

The French Industrial Exposition of 1844, held in a temporary structure on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, was one in a series of eleven French national industrial expositions held to encourage improvements in progressive agriculture and in technology, that had their origins in 1798...

, in 1851, he represented the French ceramic industry at the Universal Exhibition

The Great Exhibition

The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations or The Great Exhibition, sometimes referred to as the Crystal Palace Exhibition in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held, was an international exhibition that took place in Hyde Park, London, from 1 May to 15 October...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, as a member of international jury. Whilst in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, his innovations drew esteem from the greatest scholars, including Michael Faraday

Michael Faraday

Michael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....

, who invited him to attend a lecture he professed before the Royal Institution

Royal Institution

The Royal Institution of Great Britain is an organization devoted to scientific education and research, based in London.-Overview:...

 in London.

A few months after his return to France and the drafting of his report on the Exposition, Ebelmen was suffering from a brain fever

Brain fever

Brain fever describes a medical condition where a part of the brain becomes inflamed and causes symptoms that present as fever. The terminology is dated, and is encountered most often in Victorian literature...

. He died on 31 March 1852.

The Ebelmen Award in Geochemistry is named in his honor; it is given out by the International Association of GeoChemistry

International Association of GeoChemistry

The IAGC is affiliated with the International Union of Geological Sciences and has been one of the pre-eminent international geochemical organizations for over thirty-five years...

. His name is one of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.

Research

His early research metallurgical dates from 1838, from a series of very remarkable memoirs succeeded until 1844, while others appeared only in 1851. To determine the composition of the gases successively in blast furnaces, kilns in a puddle in the warming ovens, he was inventing special processes, to draw the gas mixture in warmer regions and most easily accessible, and applied the same methods to study the carbonization of wood in the wheels, to that of the carbonization of coal in coke ovens and review of combustion in the engine locomotives homes alongside Frédéric Sauvage

Frédéric Sauvage

Frédéric Sauvage was a French boat builder who carried out early tests of screw-type marine propellers.Sauvage was born at Boulogne-sur-Mer. In a public demonstration with a small boat on January 15, 1832 in Honfleur, he was able to show that a propeller is more efficient than the then standard...

.