List of scientists whose names are used as SI units

List of scientists whose names are used as SI units is the list of those scientists whose names are assigned as the names of the international units by the International Committee for Weights and Measures. The International System of Units (abbreviated SI from French: Système international d'unités) is the most widely used system of units of measurement. There are seven base units and 22 derived units[1] (excluding compound units). These units are used both in science and in commerce. Two of the base units and 17 of the derived units are named after scientists.[2] By this convention, their names are immortalised. Below is the list of the scientists whose names are used as SI units.

Scientists and the SI units

Base unit[note 1] Derived unit

(colour legend)

Name[3][4] Life Nationality Quantity[5] SI unit[note 2] Image
André-Marie Ampère[6] 1775–1836 French Electric current [7] ampere (A)
(Base unit)
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin[8] 1824–1907 British (Irish) Thermodynamic temperature[9] kelvin (K)
(Base unit)
Blaise Pascal[10] 1623–1662 French Pressure[11] pascal (Pa)
Isaac Newton[12] 1643–1727 British (English) Force[13] newton (N)
Anders Celsius[14] 1701–1744 Swedish Temperature[15] degree Celsius (°C)
Charles-Augustin de Coulomb[16] 1736–1806 French Electric charge[17] coulomb (C)
James Watt[18] 1736–1819 British (Scottish) Power[19] watt (W)
Alessandro Volta [20] 1745–1827 Italian Electric potential[21] volt (V)
Georg Simon Ohm[22] 1789–1855 German Electrical resistance[23] ohm (Ω)
Michael Faraday[24] 1791–1867 British (English) Capacitance[25] farad (F)
Joseph Henry[26] 1797–1878 American Inductance[27] henry (H)
Wilhelm Eduard Weber[28] 1804–1891 German Magnetic flux[29] weber (Wb)
Ernst Werner von Siemens [30] 1816–1892 German Conductance[31] siemens (S)
James Prescott Joule[32] 1818–1889 British (English) Energy[33] joule (J)
Antoine Henri Becquerel[34] 1852–1908 French Radioactivity[35] becquerel (Bq)
Nikola Tesla [36] 1856–1943 Serbian[note 3]-American Magnetic flux density[37] tesla (T)
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz[38] 1857–1894 German Frequency[39] hertz (Hz)
Rolf Maximilian Sievert[40] 1896–1966 Swedish Dose equivalent of radiation[41] sievert (Sv)
Louis Harold Gray [42] 1905–1965 British (English) Absorbed dose of radiation[43] gray (Gy)

Napier and Bell

Napier and decibel are two dimensionless units used to define relative amplitudes in logarithmic scales.[note 4] They are not SI units, but their usage together with SI units is permitted.

Name Life Nationality Quantity Unit Image
John Napier[44] 1550–1617 British (Scottish) Magnitude (natural logarithmic) [45] neper (Np)
Alexander Graham Bell[46] 1847–1922 British (Scottish)-American Magnitude (common logarithmic)[47] bel (B)

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ There are 5 base units: kilogram, metre, second, mole, candela not named after people
  2. ↑ As a rule, the units are written in lowercase letters. But, symbols of units derived from a personal name always begin with a capital letter.
  3. ↑ The village he was born was a part of Austrian Empire, now it is in Croatia.
  4. ↑ Decibel is defined for power whereas neper is defined for voltage, current or pressure

References

Bibliography

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.