Charles Edouard Guillaume

Facts

Charles Edouard Guillaume

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Charles Edouard Guillaume
The Nobel Prize in Physics 1920

Born: 15 February 1861, Fleurier, Switzerland

Died: 13 June 1938, Sèvres, France

Affiliation at the time of the award: Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (International Bureau of Weights and Measures), Sèvres, France

Prize motivation: "in recognition of the service he has rendered to precision measurements in Physics by his discovery of anomalies in nickel steel alloys."

Prize share: 1/1

Work

Precise measurement plays an important role in science. To provide a basis for precise measurements, the metric system and a German legal meter were instituted to define lengths. However, different materials expand differently when temperatures change, which limits the ability to make very precise measurements. In 1896 Charles-Edouard Guillaume succeeded in finding an alloy of nickel and steel that registered almost no change in length and volume as a result of temperature changes. The invar nickel-steel alloy had a significant effect on scientific instruments and incandescent light bulbs.

To cite this section
MLA style: Charles Edouard Guillaume – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2020. Thu. 16 Jul 2020. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1920/guillaume/facts/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Learn more

Nobel Prizes 2019

Fifteen laureates were awarded in 2019, for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.

Their work and discoveries range from how cells adapt to changes in levels of oxygen to our ability to fight global poverty.

See them all presented here.
2019 Nobel Laureates

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.