Pierre Duhem

  • Birthdate of Pierre Duhem

    Pierre Duhem was born on June 10, 1861 in Paris, France. He had one child (Helene Duhem) and was married, but she passed away giving birth to their second child, who also passed away. His father was Pierre-Joseph Duhem, he was a traveler, and his mother was Alexandrine Fabre. They were a Flemish family and Pierre was the oldest out of four children. Pierre attended school at Ecole Normale Superieure and College Stanisias de Paris.
  • First Paper

    In 1884, Duhem published his first paper while still at Ecole Normale. This paper was his outlook and explanation on electrochemical cells. Desite him not having his license in mathematics yet, he also submitted a doctoral thesis in 1884. This thesis was on thermodynamic potential in physics and chemistry. It defined the criteria for chemical reactions when it was in free energy.
  • His Second Thesis

    Duhem knew he was right about his first paper and thesis, so he confidently published the rejected thesis in 1886. He later then published a second thesis in 1887 while he was teaching at Lille. He worked there from October 1887 to 1893. His lectures was over hydrodynamics, elasticity, and acoustics.
  • Death of Pierre Duhem

    Duhem passed away in Cabrespine, France in 1916. His impact on science made a difference because he set the foundation for principles of hydrodynamics and elasticity. In addition to that, he added his thesis and research to mathematic, physics, and history itself.