The New Student's Reference Work/Cornu, Marie-Alfred

Cornu (kôr′nū′), Marie-Alfred, a distinguished French physicist, lately occupying the chair of physics at the École Polytechnique, the great military school of Paris. He was born on March 6, 1841, and was educated at the institution where he later taught. Cornu's investigations cover a large range of optical and acoustical subjects. Among the most important of these may be mentioned his very accurate determination of the speed of light by the method of Fizeau; his determination of the density of the earth by the Cavendish method; his study of the solar spectrum and the ultraviolet spectra of the metals; and his mathematical discussion of the diffraction-grating. Besides being a member of many learned societies, Cornu was a prominent member of the French Academy, and was president of the International Congress of Physicists which met at Paris in 1900. He died in 1902.