Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot
French physicist and engineer (1796–1832) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot (French pronunciation: [nikɔla leɔnaʁ sadi kaʁno]; 1 June 1796 – 24 August 1832) was a French mechanical engineer in the French Army, military scientist and physicist, often described as the "father of thermodynamics". He published only one book, the Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire (Paris, 1824), in which he expressed the first successful theory of the maximum efficiency of heat engines and laid the foundations of the new discipline: thermodynamics. Carnot's work attracted little attention during his lifetime, but it was later used by Rudolf Clausius and Lord Kelvin to formalize the second law of thermodynamics and define the concept of entropy. Driven by purely technical concerns, such as improving the performance of the steam engine, Sadi Carnot's theoretical work laid important foundations for modern science as well as technologies such as the automobile and jet engine.
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (April 2015) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot | |
---|---|
Born | (1796-06-01)1 June 1796 Palais du Petit-Luxembourg, Paris, France |
Died | 24 August 1832 (aged 36) Paris, France |
Resting place | City of Paris Cemetery Ivry-sur-Seine |
Nationality | France |
Alma mater | École Polytechnique École Royale du Génie University of Paris Collège de France |
Known for | Carnot cycle Carnot efficiency Carnot theorem Carnot heat engine |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Physicist |
Institutions | French Army |
Academic advisors | Siméon Denis Poisson André-Marie Ampère François Arago |
Notes | |
He was the brother of Hippolyte Carnot, his father was the mathematician Lazare Carnot, and his nephews were Marie François Sadi Carnot and Marie Adolphe Carnot. |
His father Lazare Carnot was an eminent mathematician, military engineer, and leader of the French Revolutionary Army.