List of scientists whose names are used as units

Many scientists have been recognized with the assignment of their names as international units by the International Committee for Weights and Measures or as non-SI units. 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 7 base units and 22 derived units[1] (excluding compound units). These units are used both in science and in commerce. Two of the base SI units and 17 of the derived units are named after scientists.[2] 28 non-SI units are named after scientists. By this convention, their names are immortalised. As a rule, the SI units are written in lowercase letters, but symbols of units derived from the name of a person begin with a capital letter.

Scientists and SI units

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Base unit[note 1] Derived unit

(colour legend)

Name[3][4] Life Nationality Quantity[5] SI unit Image
André-Marie Ampère[6] 1775–1836  French Electric current[7] ampere (A)
(Base unit)
 
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin[8] 1824–1907  British ( Scottish- Northern 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 becquerel (Bq)  
Nikola Tesla[35] 1856–1943  Serbian[note 2]- American Magnetic flux density[36] tesla (T)  
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz[37] 1857–1894  German Frequency[38] hertz (Hz)  
Rolf Maximilian Sievert[39] 1896–1966  Swedish Dose equivalent of radiation[citation needed] sievert (Sv)  
Louis Harold Gray[40] 1905–1965  British ( English) Absorbed dose of radiation[41] gray (Gy)

Scientists and non-SI units

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Name of the scientist[42][43] Life Nationality Quantity Unit[note 3] Image
William Gilbert 1544–1603  British ( English) Magnetomotive force gilbert (Gi)  
John Napier 1550–1617  British ( Scottish) Magnitude (ln, dimensionless) neper (Np)  
Galileo Galilei 1564–1642  Italian Acceleration gal (Gal)  
Evangelista Torricelli 1608–1647  Italian Pressure torr (Torr)  
René Réaumur 1683–1757  French Temperature degree Reaumur (°R)  
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit 1686–1736  Polish- Dutch- German Temperature degree Fahrenheit (°F)  
Johann Heinrich Lambert 1728–1777  German Luminance lambert (L)  
John Dalton 1766–1844  British Mass (atomic) dalton (Da)  
Hans Christian Ørsted 1777–1851  Danish Magnetic field oersted (Oe)  
Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss 1777–1855  German Magnetic flux density gauss (G)  
Michael Faraday 1791–1867  British ( English) Electric charge faraday (F)  
Jean Léonard Marie Poiseuille 1797–1869  French Dynamic viscosity poise (P)  
Anders Jonas Ångström 1814–1874  Swedish Length angstrom (Å)  
Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet 1818–1903  British Kinematic viscosity stokes (St)  
William John Macquorn Rankine 1820–1872  British ( Scottish) Thermodynamic temperature degree Rankine (°Ra )  
James Clerk Maxwell 1831–1879  British ( Scottish) Magnetic flux maxwell (Mx)  
Samuel Pierpont Langley 1834–1906  American Energy intensity langley (Ly)  
Ernst Mach 1838–1916  Austrian Speed Mach number (M)  
John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh 1842–1919  British Acoustic impedance rayl  
Wilhelm Röntgen 1845–1923  German Ionizing radiation röntgen (R)  
Alexander Graham Bell 1847–1922  British ( Scottish)- American Magnitude (log10, dimensionless) bel (B)  
Loránd Eötvös 1848–1919  Hungarian Gravitational gradient eotvos (E)  
Heinrich Kayser 1853–1940  German Wavenumber kayser  
Joseph John Thomson 1856–1940  British ( English) Mass-to-charge ratio thomson (Th)  
Marie Curie

Pierre Curie

1867–1934

1859–1906

 Polish- French Radioactivity curie (Ci)    
Heinrich Mache 1876–1954  Austrian Radioactivity Mache (ME)  
Peter Debye 1884–1966  Dutch Electric dipole moment debye (D)  
Karl Guthe Jansky 1905–1950  American Spectral irradiance jansky (JY)  
Wallace Clement Sabine 1868–1919  American Sound absorption sabin  

See also

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Bakwas

  1. ^ There are 5 base units that are not named after people: kilogram, metre, second, mole and candela.
  2. ^ The village he was born was a part of Austrian Empire, now it is in Croatia.
  3. ^ 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.

References

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  1. ^ Essential of the SI
  2. ^ Derived SI units with special names
  3. ^ Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia
  4. ^ Elektrik Mühendisliği pp. 247–275
  5. ^ Young and Freedman, p. A-1
  6. ^ |Andre Marie Ampere
  7. ^ Ampere on Dictionary
  8. ^ Kelvin, Lord William Thomson
  9. ^ Inventors
  10. ^ Blaise Pascal
  11. ^ Pa Pascal pressure unit
  12. ^ Isaac Newton's life
  13. ^ Newton
  14. ^ Anders Celsius (1701–1744)
  15. ^ Celsius Definition
  16. ^ Charles Augustin de Coulomb (French Physicist)
  17. ^ Coulomb
  18. ^ BBC Historic figures
  19. ^ Watt conversion)
  20. ^ Inventor Alessandro Volta Biography
  21. ^ Volt
  22. ^ "Georg Simon Ohm". St. Andrews University. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  23. ^ Ohm (unit)
  24. ^ Michael Faraday
  25. ^ Farad
  26. ^ Joseph Henry Archived 9 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ Henry: Definition from Answers
  28. ^ The New International Encyclopaedia: Weber
  29. ^ Weber (unit)
  30. ^ Siemens, Werner von
  31. ^ Siemens (unit)
  32. ^ "Biography:James Prescott Joule". Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  33. ^ What is a Joule ?
  34. ^ Henri Becquerel
  35. ^ Tesla's Biography
  36. ^ Tesla (unit)
  37. ^ Heinrich Hertz
  38. ^ Hertz
  39. ^ Rolf Sievert, the man and the unit
  40. ^ About L.G.Gray
  41. ^ Gray
  42. ^ Isaac Asimov: Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology Pan Reference Books, London, 1972, ISBN 0-330-24323-3
  43. ^ Elektrik Mühendisliği, TBMMO Yayın organı, 259–260, Ankara, 1978

Bibliography

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