Henri Claude Bénard | |
---|---|
Born |
Lieurey, Eure, Normandy, France |
25 October 1874
Died | 29 March 1939 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France |
(aged 64)
Nationality | France |
Fields | Physics |
Institutions |
University of Lyon University of Bordeaux University of Paris |
Alma mater |
École Normale Supérieure Collège de France |
Thesis | Les tourbillons cellulaires dans une nappe liquide propageant de la chaleur par convection, en régime permanent (1901) |
Doctoral advisor |
Éleuthère Mascart Marcel Brillouin |
Known for |
Rayleigh-Bénard convection Bénard-Marangoni convection von Karman vortex street |
Notable awards | Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur à titre militaire (1919) Bordin Prize (1920) Poncelet Prize (1939) |
Spouse | Clémentine Olga Malhèvre |
Henri Claude Bénard, (25 October 1874 – 29 March 1939), French physicist, best known for his research on convection in liquids that now carries his name, Bénard convection. In addition, the historical surveys of both Tokaty and von Kármán both acknowledge that Bénard studied the vortex shedding phenomenon later named the von Karman vortex street, prior to von Karman's own contributions. Bénard specialized in experimental fluid dynamics, and the use of optical methods to study it. He was a faculty member at the universities at Lyon, Bordeaux, and finally the Sorbonne in Paris.
Bénard defended his PhD thesis at the Collège de France on March 15, 1901 entitled "Les Tourbillons cellulaires dans une nappe liquide propageant de la chaleur par convection en régime permanent".
Bénard was elected President of the French Society of Physics (SFP) in 1929, following the presidency of Louis Lumière. He was succeeded as President the next year by his friend and former teacher, Jean Perrin. In 1929 Bénard received the Bordin Prize for his work on vortices from the French Academy of Sciences. After his death in 1939, his widow received the Poncelet Prize on his behalf, also from the French Academy of Sciences.
A research center of the ERCOFTAC in Lyon is named after him.
Henri Bénard was the only son of a small investor, Felix A. Bénard (1851-1884), and his wife Hélène M. Mangeant (1837-1901). He attended elementary school in Lisieux and Caen and high school at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. In 1894, Bénard was one of 17 students selected from 307 candidates to attend the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) in the sciences section. His classmates there included Henri Lebesgue and Paul Langevin, and one of his teachers was Jean Perrin. Bénard received his teaching degree in physics in 1897, and then began working as an assistant to Éleuthère Mascart and Marcel Brillouin at the Collège de France in Paris. At this time, Bénard joined the French Society of Physics (SFP).