Physics Faces

Gaspard Gustave de Coriolis  (1792-1843) 

“Coriolis entered the Ecole Polytechnique in 1808. After graduation he served for several years in the corps of engineers (of the Ponts et Chausees). In 1816 he started his teaching career. He was an attentive, effective and solicitous teacher. He was also a bachelor and invalid. As a result of studying formulations of dynamical problems in rotating machinery he was led to consider the effect of changes of coordinate systems in analytical mechanics. The result of these studies was presented to the Academie des Sciences on June 6, 1831. A French oceanographic vessel was named after hin in 1963.”