Jules Violle

Jules Louis Gabriel Violle ( born November 16, 1841 in Langres, † September 12, 1923 in Fixin ) was a French physicist.

Life and work

A native of the city of Langres certain scientists in 1875 on Mont Blanc characteristics of sun light. In 1881 he led to the International Electricity Congress in Paris a new unit of measurement for light intensity, which was given the name Violle unit. It corresponded to the amount of light that is emitted from the surface of one square centimeter of platinum on reaching the melting point. It was the first unit for measuring light, which was not derived from a specific lamp type. However, it was soon superseded by the later valid candlepower unit.

Jules Violle taught, among others, in Besancon, Grenoble, at the University of Lyon and since 1891 at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris. He was one of the founders of the Institut d' optique théorique et appliquée and the École supérieure d' optique.

1897 Jules Violle was elected to the Académie des Sciences. From 1906 to 1908 he was president of the Société française de photographie.