Savart Félix

Born June 30, 1791, in Mézières; died Mar. 16, 1841, in Paris. French physicist. Member of the Paris Academy of Sciences (1827).

Educated as a physician, Savart first worked as a military surgeon and then, in 1816, established a medical practice in Strasbourg. In 1820 he became a professor of physics at a private school in Paris, and in 1827 curator of the physics collection at the Collège de France. His scientific works dealt with acoustics, electromagnetism, and optics. In collaboration with J. B. Biot, Savart in 1820 experimentally established a law determining the strength of a current-induced magnetic field. He developed the physical theory behind musical instruments and experimentally investigated resonance and wave phenomena in various systems. A unit designating the frequency interval in acoustics—the savart—has been named after him. Savart also designed and built a polariscope.