Concept

Charles François de Cisternay du Fay

Summary
Charles François de Cisternay du Fay (14 September 1698 – 16 July 1739) was a French chemist and superintendent of the Jardin du Roi. He discovered the existence of two types of electricity and named them "vitreous" and "resinous" (later known as positive and negative charge respectively). He noted the difference between conductors and insulators, calling them 'electrics' and 'non-electrics' for their ability to produce contact electrification. He also discovered that alike-charged objects would repel each other and that unlike-charged objects attract. He also disproved certain misconceptions regarding electric charge, such as that of Dr. Stephen Gray who believed that electric properties of a body depended on its colour. Du Fay's observations on electricity were reported in a paper written in December 1733 and printed in Volume 38 of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1734. He became a member of the French Academy of Sciences in 1723. Du Fay died of smallpox in 1739. All Du Fay's publications appeared in the journal Histoire de l'Académie Royale des Sciences: avec les mémoires de mathématique & de physique pour les mêmes années Mémoire sur les baromètres lumineux. 1723, PDF. Description d'une Pompe, qui peut servir utilement dans les Incendies. 1725, PDF. Description d'une machine pour connaitre l'heure vraie du soleil tous les jours de l'annee. 1725, PDF. Expériences sur la dissolubilité de plusieurs sortes de Verres. 1727, PDF. Remarques sur les polygones réguliers inscrits et circonscrits. 1727, PDF. Observations sur quelques expériences de l'aimant. 1728, PDF. Mémoire sur la teinture et la dissolution de plusieurs espèces de pierres. 1728, PDF. Mémoire sur un grand nombre de phosphores nouveaux. 1730, PDF. Suite des Observations sur l'aimant. 1730, PDF. Troisième Mémoire sur l'aimant. 1731. PDF. Premier mémoire sur l'électricité, Histoire de l'électricité. 1733, PDF. Second mémoire sur l'électricité, Quels sont les Corps qui sont susceptibles d'Electricité. 1733, PDF.
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