List of scientists whose names are used as SI units

List of scientists whose names are used as SI units is the list of those scientists whose names are assigned as the names of the international units by the International Committee for Weights and Measures. 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 seven base units and 22 derived units[1] (excluding compound units). These units are used both in science and in commerce. Two of the base units and 17 of the derived units are named after scientists.[2] By this convention, their names are immortalised. Below is the list of the scientists whose names are used as SI units.

Scientists and the SI units

Base unit[Note 1] Derived unit

(colour legend)

Name[3][4] Life Nationality Quantity[5] SI unit[Note 2] Image
André-Marie Ampère[6] 1775–1836 French Electric current [7] ampere (A)
(Base unit)
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin[8] 1824–1907 British (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[35] becquerel (Bq)
Nikola Tesla [36] 1856–1943 Serbian[Note 3]-American Magnetic flux density[37] tesla (T)
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz[38] 1857–1894 German Frequency[39] hertz (Hz)
Rolf Maximilian Sievert[40] 1896–1966 Swedish Dose equivalent of radiation[41] sievert (Sv)
Louis Harold Gray [42] 1905–1965 British (English) Absorbed dose of radiation[43] gray (Gy)

Napier and Bell

Napier and decibel are two dimensionless units used to define relative amplitudes in logarithmic scales.[Note 4] They are not SI units, but their usage together with SI units is permitted.

Name Life Nationality Quantity Unit Image
John Napier[44] 1550–1617 British (Scottish) Magnitude (natural logarithmic) [45] neper (Np)
Alexander Graham Bell[46] 1847–1922 British (Scottish)-American Magnitude (common logarithmic)[47] bel (B)

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ There are 5 base units: kilogram, metre, second, mole, candela not named after people
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ The village he was born was a part of Austrian Empire, now it is in Croatia.
  4. ↑ Decibel is defined for power whereas neper is defined for voltage, current or pressure

References

  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. ↑ 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
  23. ↑ Ohm (unit)
  24. ↑ Michael Faraday
  25. ↑ Farad
  26. ↑ Joseph Henry
  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
  33. ↑ What is a Joule ?
  34. ↑ Henri Becquerel
  35. ↑ Becquerel
  36. ↑ Tesla's Biography
  37. ↑ Tesla (unit)
  38. ↑ Heinrich Hertz
  39. ↑ Hertz
  40. ↑ Rolf Sievert, the man and the unit
  41. ↑ Siviert
  42. ↑ About L.G.Gray
  43. ↑ Gray
  44. ↑ Biography:Napier
  45. ↑ Neper explained
  46. ↑ Graham Bell
  47. ↑ Decibel

Bibliography

External links

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