Edme Mariotte (Dijon, 1620 - Paris, 1684) was an abbot considered one of the founders of the field of physics in France. He was especially recognized for his work on the blind spot of the eye, the creation of the Boyle-Mariotte Law, and his experiments with pendulums.
Mariotte dedicated his career to conducting endless experiments, which led to him becoming a member of the French Academy of Sciences. Although it was his main field of work, he not only dedicated himself to work in the field of physics. He did various research on the physiology of plants and studied mathematics in depth.
Edme Mariotte's way of working was also revolutionary due to her constant and long correspondence with great scientists of the time. In fact, he is considered to be one of the pioneers of international scientific cooperation 1.
Biography
Although there is not enough documentation about the first years of his life, it is said that Edme Mariotte was born in Dijon (France) in 1620. Mariotte's work on physics focused on the academic world and his way of working reveals that he was surely self-taught.
Between 1654 and 1658 he worked as a physics teacher, but it was not until ten years later that his life began to be documented due to his important findings.
In 1668, he published his first work "Nouvelle Découverte touchant la vue" (A new discovery about sight) 4. It was a work dedicated to his research on the blind spot of the eye; a discovery that caused a before and after in the field of ophthalmology.
Thanks to the great repercussion of this publication, that same year Jean-Baptiste Colbert (Minister of Finance of Louis XIV) invited Mariotte to enter the French Academy of Sciences.
In 1670, he moved to Paris to be more involved in the activities of the Academy. That same year he announced that he was investigating the impact between bodies through his experiments with pendulums. In 1673, he published the results in the book "Traité de la percussion ou choc des corps" (Treatise on the collision or collision of bodies).
Another milestone in Mariotte's life was his research on the pressure and volume of gases, the conclusions of which he published in 1676. Today, this study is known as the Boyle-Mariotte Law, a merit that he shares with the scientist Irish Robert Boyle.
Edme Mariotte died in Paris on May 12, 1684.
Contributions to science
Mariotte is known for three main works: the blind spot of the eye, Boyle-Mariotte's Law, and his experiments with pendulums.
The blind spot
In 1668, Edme Mariotte made public his most important finding in the field of ophthalmology: the blind spot of the eye. The publication described his experiments on the optic nerve, with the aim of checking whether the strength of vision varied depending on the location of the optic nerve.
After observing various human and animal eyes, Mariotte discovered that the optic nerve was never located in the center of the eye. In the case of humans, it was higher than the center and oriented towards the nose 2.
This would show that there is an area in the human eye where there is a blind spot. Generally, when using both eyes, the point is imperceptible and the point can only be discovered through medical tests.
Today, Edme Mariotte's work remains a benchmark in the world of ophthalmology. Exercising has been shown to reduce the blind spot in the eye, thereby improving vision.
Boyle-Mariotte's Law
During his experiments with gases, Mariotte discovered that, at a constant temperature, the pressure and the volume of a gas are inversely proportional. This means that when the volume of a gas decreases, the pressure increases (and the reverse is true).
Edme Mariotte published his conclusions in 1676, in a book entitled Discourse de la nature de l'air (Discourse on the nature of air). Interestingly, there was another scientist, the Irishman Robert Boyle, who made the same discovery 17 years earlier.
However, there is no talk of plagiarism by Mariotte, since both scientists conducted their studies completely independently. In fact, in English-speaking countries the law is known as Boyle's Law and in France as Mariotte's Law. one
This law can be applied to many actions that we carry out today, such as diving, the mechanism of gasoline and diesel engines or the airbag system.
Pendulum experiments
Edme Mariotte devoted much of his work to experimenting with collisions between objects. One of the most prominent experiments consisted in observing the movement of pendulums like the one shown in Figure 3.
The experiment consists of having three identical balls (A, B, C) of a heavy material aligned. A fourth ball (D) hits ball C. Balls C and B do not move and ball D, after the collision, does not move either.
That is, only ball A moves, maintaining the same speed as ball D at the beginning. This experiment can be carried out with the number of balls you want. 3.5
In 1671, Mariotte presented the results of his experiments at the French Academy of Sciences and subsequently published them in 1673.
Later, Isaac Newton continued to conduct experiments based on Mariotte's findings. In fact, in the observations written by Newton, he repeatedly mentions the publications of the French physicist.
Despite the fact that Mariotte was the pioneer and discoverer of such pendulum experiments, today the research is known as "Newton's Pendulum."
References
- Andrzej G. Pinar A. Edme Mariotte (1620-1684): Pioneer of Neurophysiology. Survey of Ophthalmology. Jul-Aug 2007; 52 (4): 443-451.
- Conrad B. Examination of the blind spot of Mariotte. Trans Am Ophthalmol Soc. 1923; 21: 271-290.
- F. Herrmann. P. Sshmälzle. A simple explanation of a well-known collision experiment. Am. J. Phys., Aug 1981; 49 (8): 761-764.
- Mariotte's original report of the discovery of a blind area in the healthy human eye. Acta Ophthalmologica, Jun 1939; 17: 4-10.
- Rod C. Edme Mariotte and Newton's Cradle. The Physics Teacher, Apr 2012; 50: 206-207.