MEN OF TRIBOLOGY

by DUNCAN DOWSON2

4 CHARLES AUGUSTIN COULOMB (1736-1806) 5 ARTHUR-JULES MORIN (1795-1880)

4 Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/tribology/article-pdf/100/2/148/5796303/148_1.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 CHARLES AUGUSTiN COULOMB (1736-1806) ". . . / was often in the situation of discovering how much all the theories, founded upon hypotheses or upon experiments carried out in miniature in a cabinet de physique, were insufficient guides in practice." Charles Augustin Coulomb, 1781 (Archives de la Guerre, Vincennes, Dossier Coulomb).

Biography in Montpellier, but the need to earn a living caused him to enter the Charles Augustin Coulomb was born on June 14th 1736 in Angou- School of Military Engineering or Ecole du genie at Mezieres. He leme in the Angoumois and he was baptized in the parish church of passed the entrance examination administered by the abbe Charles St. Andre on June 16th. His family had been prominent in law and Camus after studying in Paris for about nine months and prepared administration in Languedoc and had lived for several generations to enter the Ecole du genie early in 1760. in Montpellier. Charles Augustin's father, Henry Coulomb, first Coulomb graduated from the Ecole du genie with the rank of served in the military and then accepted a minor administrative post lieutenant en premier on November 12th 1761. The course was a with the grand title of Inspecteur des Domaines du Roi. His mother, mixture of theory and practice, with three days of each week being Catherine Bajet, was related to the wealthy de Senac family. devoted to each activity. Coulomb finished high in his group of eight Early in Charles Augustin's childhood the family moved to Paris graduates, but not all the reports on his work engendered confidence where Henry was involved in the tax-farm system. Catherine was most in his future as a military engineer. Stewart-Gillmor (1971) has re­ anxious that her son should study medicine and she arranged for him corded that the commandant Chastillon reported; to attend lectures at the College des quartre-nations. The college, . . . "M. Coulomb is from the Academy of Montpellier. His conduct- established by the will of Cardinal Mazarin in 1661, normally received is good, he understands and executes drafting rather well. His siege the sons of... prominent residents who live like nobles ... between memoir is worse than average, very bady portrayed, with erasures the ages of ten and fifteen years. It had a good reputation for the and jottings. It is carelessly done and employs incorrect nomen­ teaching of mathematics, d'Alembert and Lavoisier having studied clature. there, and it is clear that Coulomb developed a liking for the subject . . . He has a certain intelligence, but not that which will make him about this time. He moved to the College royal de France, where advance in the Corps." Pierre Charles Le Monnier presented his lectures on mathematics, Coulomb's first posting was to Brest, where he was charged with and soon produced a rift in the family by announcing that he wished minor mapping tasks on the coast between Brest and La Rochelle. to be a mathematician and not a doctor. In the meantime Henry This was during the seven years war between England and France Coulomb had engaged in financial speculations which had left him (1756-1763), and the return of Martinique to France after the Treaty penniless and he returned to Montpellier whilst the family remained of Paris in 1763 caused Coulomb to be moved from Brest to Port Royal in Paris. Charles Augustin steadfastly defied his mothers desire that to assist with the reconstruction of the islands fortifications. He sailed he should study medicine, and feelings were so strong that he was from Brest to the West Indies in the Brillant in February 1764. In due forced to return to his father in Montpellier after being temporarily course he was put in charge of the construction of Fort Bourbon on disowned by his mother. His stay in Montpellier proved to be intel­ Mount Garnier, one of the two peaks dominating the entrance to Port lectually rewarding and formative. He became a student member or Royal. He was twenty seven years old when he arrived in Martinique, membre adjoint of the Societe royale des sciences de Montpellier and during the next eight years he gained valuable and varied field at the age of twenty one and presented two mathematical and three experience. In due course much of this experience was to be distilled astronomical memoirs during his subsequent sixteen month mem­ and presented in the form of memoirs on statics, architecture and the bership. Mathematics was his chief interest during this brief period efficiency of labouring men to the Academy of Sciences in Paris. The Corps was plagued with illness, during the construction of Fort Bourbon and Coulomb became seriously ill on numerous occasions. When he left Martinque in the June of 1772 his health had deterio­ 1 Based upon a series of biographical sketches of "Men of Tribology" from a forthcoming book The History of Tribology to be published early in X978 by rated considerably. Longman Group Limited, Longman House, Burnt Mill, Harlow, Essex, England. On his return to France, Coulomb was posted to Bouchain where American enquiries to Longman Inc., 19 West 44th Street, New York, N.Y. he found time to write about his work and experiences in the West 2 Professor of Engineering Fluid Mechanics and Tribology, Institute of Tribology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Leeds, Indies. His "Essay on an Application of the Rules of Maxima and England. Minima to Some Problems in Statics Relating to Architecture" was

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Photograph of portrait of Charles Augustin Coulomb. Reproduced by permission of Mr. C. A. Coulomb, Jr., Coulombs' great-great-grandson, Longmeadow, Mass., U.S.A. r<'ad before the Academy in Paris in February and March of 1773. The prize which had initially been announced by the Academy of Sciences wide ranging essay was well received and Coulomb was appointed in Paris in 1777. This was his second and consecutive success in the f!ossut's correspondent to the Paris Academy of Sciences on July 6th naval prize contests of the Academy. Shortly afterwards he requested 1774. In the same year he was posted to Cherbourg for a two year tour a posting in Paris to enable him to pursue his interests in the Acade­ of duty and it was whilst he was at La Hougue, near Cherbourg, that my. He moved in September, was awarded the Croix de Saint Louis h<' completed his important essay on "Investigations of the Best on September 30th and elected to the Academy of Sciences on De­ Method of Making Magnetic Needles." The Academy of Sciences had cember 12th 1781. These hectic events late in 1781, when Coulomb announced a competition for the best means of constructing magnetic was forty five years old, marked a transition from his earlier career compasses, with the prize being offered in 1775. No winner was se­ in engineering to his later career in physics. Few men have changed I<'cted in 1775 and the prize was therefore doubled in 1777. Coulomb disciplines so effectively half-way through their professional lives. shared the doubled award with J. H. Van Swindon. Stewart Gillmor The move to Paris in 1781 provided Coulomh with an established (1 D71) has drawn attention to the fact that this particular memoir, home for the first time in many years. Military Service and transfers written by Coulomb the engineer, contained all the elements, in­ to new locations every two years or so prevented the establishment cluding friction, of Coulomb's subsequent major contributions to of a permanent laboratory facility. On the other hand it exposed physics. Coulomb to a wide range of problems in engineering and physics and Coulomb's next posting was to Besancon in 1777 and it was in­ he clearly responded to the challenge. He investigated architecture I ended that he should move to Marseilles in 1779. His father had died and construction in Martineque, friction in Rochfort, coastal defences during his service in the West Indies, but his mother survived until in Cherbourg and windmills in Lille. In Paris his studies were directed 1779. Charles Augustin shared the inheritance with his sisters as a more towards physics and he became active in the Academy. Academy result of a reconciliation following the strained relationship which membership brought its share of administrative work and Coulomb arose over the question of his early career. It is not clear whether he was an active committee member. He became involved in committees <'vel' went to his post in Marseilles, but he certainly spent some time dealing with hospital reform, weights and measures and water pumps. in Paris attending to his mothers estate. He also read a paper to the He was a member of the Academy's Library Committee and on March Academy in May 1779 on the subject of dredging machinery. 19th 1783 he became the first person in France to describe publicly In May 1779 Coulomb served in the Brigade of Toulon at Mar­ the principle of the Boulton and Watt improved (condensing) steam seilles, where he he was involved in the construction of a fort near engine developed across the English channel. He nevertheless found j{ochefort. Itwas here that he undertook his extensive studies of fric­ time to read thirty two scientific memoirs to the Academy and its I ion and in the spring of 1781 his extensive essay entitled "Theorie successor the Institut de France between 1773 and 1806. His con­ des Machines Simples" was judged to be the winner of the double temporaries in the Academy included Borda, Bossut, Le Roy, Laplace,

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Photograph of bust of Coulomb. Reproduced by permission of the Musee du Conservatolre des Arts et Metiers, Paris.

Legandre, Lavoisier, Berthollet, Lagrange, d'Alembert and Lazare outstanding recognition in the decade following his move to Paris in Carnot. 1781. Coulomb's prize winning studies of the magnetic compass in 1777 In April 1783 the Minister of War, Segur, nominated Coulomb as and friction in 1781 provided the foundation for his subsequent work a member of a team of consultants charged with the task of examining in physics. The use of a torsion wire on his magnetic compass a proposal from the Estates of Brittany canal commission. The pro­ prompted him to study torsion in some depth. The outcome was his posal involved the construction of new canals and locks to provide a major memoir of 1784 on the subject "Theoretical and Experimental new internal supply route and the fortification ofSt. Malo to protect Investigations of the Force of Torsion and of Elasticity in Metal the river Rance from the British. The team of consultants included Wires." Both the title and the content of this memoir are of interest. no less a person than Chezy, Inspectuer-General des ponts et Coulomb was not satisfied to determine the factors responsible for chaussces. The study of the canal scheme was completed by the early the response of tubes and rods to torsion, he needed to explain the autumn of 1783 and a new group of consultants including Coulomb, phenomenon in greater detail. This caused him to re-examine con­ and abbe Rochon, member of the Academy of Sciences and Director cepts in elasticity, the limits of elastic behaviour and the role of co­ of the Marine Observatory at Brest, an engineer called Bavre and his hesive bonds between molecules. The role of cohesive forces between old friend Jean Charles de Borda moved to St. Malo to consider the molecules in problems of mechanics was developed in his Statics second set of proposals. This scheme, prepared by Rosnyvinen, comte memoir of 1773 and again in his famous torsion memoir of 1784. de Pire, leader of the Estates of Brittany canal commission, involved The other aspect of physics with which Coulomb's name is inti­ the construction of two large ports at St. Malo; one commercial and mately connected is electricity and magnetism. In the seven memoirs one military. The consultants rejected this grandoise part of the on these subjects presented between 1785 and 1791, he outlined his scheme in December 1783. electric torsion balance, the inverse square law for forces between Before moving to St. Malo, Coulomb had applied for leave in Paris. charged bodies, the leakage of electric charge and the distribution of His application to Segur was forwarded to the Commandant of the charge on conducting bodies of various shapes and sizes. The last of Province of Brittany where Coulomb was acting as a consultant and these memoirs was presented in 1791 when Coulomb was fifty years then to the comte de Pire of the canal commission. The request for old. Even when allowance is made for his wide-ranging experience as leave was refused, but by this time Coulomb had returned to Paris a military engineer, Coulomb's second career as a physicist achieved with the other members of the group of consultants from St. Malo.

150 / VOL 100, APRIL 1978 Transactions of the ASME His return to the capital without being granted leave caused him to be felled and found by removing the outer layers of the trunk that the be censured, although it should be noted that he had received no re­ phenomenon was restricted to a central core having a diameter of only sponse at all to his application by the time his work at St. Malo was a few centimeters. He discovered that when the trunks of trees were completed. He was deeply offended by the official reaction and offered reduced to this small section near their base they nevertheless retained to resign. His case was reviewed by an engineering committee of the great resistance to bending, that the bubbles issued with a clear Corps du genie which agreed with Coulomb's position. It recom­ tasteless liquid like water when the core was penetrated and that the mended that the application for leave be granted and that Segur noise ceased during the night and on cold and humid days. These should refuse to accept Coulomb's resignation because it would rep­ observations later formed the basis for a delightful memoir to the resent ... "a great loss for the King's Service." The War Minister was Institute in 1799 under the title "Experiments Concerning the Cir­ under pressure from the Corps du genie on the one hand and the Es­ culation of Sap in Trees." tates of Brittany, still smarting under the rejection of its plans for the It is difficult to assess the effect of the Revolution upon Charles expansion of St. Malo, on the other. He resolved his position by sen­ Augustin Coulomb. It clearly caused some slight interruption to his tencing Coulomb to prison in the Abbaye de St. Germain for a period work and he withdrew to the countryside during the Reign of Terror, of one week. Gillmor (1971) has noted that Coulomb was later to write but in due course he resumed his work in the Institute which replaced of Segur's decision . . . "the reason that was given in the order for my the Academy of Sciences. He bought a house in Paris in 1791 and he imprisonment can only be the pretext that a poor devil, hard pres­ certainly spent some time there in 1797. It is sometimes suggested that Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/tribology/article-pdf/100/2/148/5796303/148_1.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 sured by his mistakes and his conscience, employs to escape the Coulomb's absence from the capital during the height of the revolu­ pressure." tion indicated that he was regarded as being of the nobility, but Coulomb's social conscience was illustrated by his concern for scholars like Stewart Gillmor (1971) have dismissed this interpreta­ public health. He had written about the deplorable conditions in the tion. It seems more likely that his departure was no more than could hospital at Cherbourg in 1775. In 1777 he joined a committee estab­ be expected of a prudent family man. In general the ginie militaire lished by the Academy of Sciences to consider a plan for the reform supported the revolutionary movement. of the Paris Hospitals submitted by Jean Baptiste Le Roy. The work Coulomb's family life came late. It was not until he established his of the Academy in this field was to continue for many years and it home in Paris after his roving military career that he was joined by caused Coulomb to visit England with Jacques Rene Tenon in 1787. his young partner, the twenty year old Louise Francoise Le Proust The purpose of this journey was to survey the latest developments Desormeaux. Their first son, Charles Augustin II was born in Paris in hospital design and operative procedures and the eight week period on February 26th 1790 when Coulomb was fifty four years old. His encompassed visits to London, Birmingham and Plymouth. The second son, Henry Louis was also born in Paris on July 30th 1797, but visiting pair also had meetings with Sir Joseph Banks, who had ac­ it was not until November 8th 1802 that the marriage was legitim­ companied Captain Cook on his voyage round the world in the En­ ized. deavour (1768-1771), and James Watt, whose engine had been de­ Charles Augustin Coulomb died in Paris at the age of seventy on scribed in France by Coulomb some four years earlier. the morning of August 23rd 1806. He lived through an age of stirring The French Revolution of 1789 was to lead to changes in the orga­ scientific activity and political turmoil. France dominated much of nization of both scientific and military institutions, although the di­ the work in the physical sciences and Coulomb stood in the front rank rect effect upon Coulomb's work appears to have been slight. In 1786 of a galaxy of mathematicians and physicists. Coulomb completed he was promoted from the rank of captain to major, but the latter rank an impressive career as a military engineer before he began in earnest was abolished in 1790 and all majors became lieutenant colonels. He his second career in the realm of physics. His great work on friction tendered his resignation from the army on December 18th 1790 and came at the divide of his career, embodying the fruits of a successful life as an engineer with the skill of the physicist. His name has been this was formally accepted on April 1st, 1791. He retired with a pen­ firmly linked with the laws of friction throughout the past two sion, but his work at the Academy continued until his last appearance centuries. at a meeting in July 1793. The Reign of Terror for science began the following month when the Academy of Sciences was abolished on Friction August 8th. Coulomb remained close to Paris for a further two months In 1777 the Academy of Sciences in Paris announced that a prize for he was still active in the work of the Commission of Weights and of 1000 louis d'or would be awarded in 1779 for the solution of . . . Measures. He was purged from the Commission on December 23rd . . . "problems of friction of sliding and rolling surfaces, the resis­ 1793, and he then retired from the centre of the Reign of Terror with tance to bending in cords, and the application of these solutions to his good friend Borda to some property near Blois. He had previously simple machines used in the navy." bought from Lavoisier some property at Thoisy, eight miles north of With no winner selected in 1779, the prize was doubled for an award Blois, and in 1803 he purchased a farm ten miles south of Thoisy and in 1781. Coulomb started work on the subject late in 1779, but there three miles to the west of Blois. are suggestions that his interest in the topic had been aroused at an Coulomb was elected to the Institut de France which replaced the earlier stage. His experience of architecture and construction in Academy of Science on December 9th 1795. He had entered Paris only Martinique and the preparation of a memoir on a . . . "Means of rarely during the Reign of Terror; once to attend Lavoisier's funeral Eliminating Friction in Arched Doors and Giving Them the Same in May 1794 and again when he was appointed to a reconstituted Mobility as a Floating Body". . . provided some basis for his work. Commission on Weights and Measures in April 1795. Between 1795 He enjoyed the facilities of a modern shipyard, the support of the port and 1799 he presented memoirs to the new Institute on such diverse commander and the assistance of two men in the conduct of his ex­ topics as fluid resistance, the efficiency of labouring men and plant periments over several months. He considered the work of Amontons physiology. He had observed the working habits of men throughout and Desaguliers and in due course submitted a lengthy essay which his career and his detailed study of particular actions persuaded him was judged to be the winner in the spring of 1781. that on heavy work maximum output could be achieved with seven His classical memoir, "Theorie des Machines Simples," is an ex­ or eight hours effort each day, whilst ten hours or so were optimum cellent example of high quality scientific work prompted by practical for lighter tasks like shopkeeping. He also recognized that frequent problems of the day. The navy was acutely aware of the influence of rest periods in various occupations produced higher overall output. friction upon the operation of pulleys, capstans and the launching of It is fitting to conclude this survey of Coulomb's scientific work with ships on slip-ways. Tallow was widely used as a lubricant in the reference to his work on plant physiology. The study illustrated his launching of ships, but Coulomb (1785) himself noted that excessive insatiable interest in his immediate environment and was related to friction would often cause the ship to stick and even fall over when his period in the country at Blois during the Reign of Terror. In the half-way down the slip-way. In certain cases frictional heating caused spring of 1796 he heard a noise like the bubbling of air in a liquid when the ship to catch fire, whilst decomposition of the tallow made it more some Italian poplars were being cut down. He ordered more trees to like an adhesive than a lubricant.

Journal of Lubrication Technology APRIL 1978, VOL 100 / 151 Coulomb's (1785) friction memoir is a long and detailed essay which probably more aware of its limitations than many of those who sub­ exemplifies his devotion to the scientific method and his attention sequently applied it. to detail. In the introduction he outlines the current state of knowl­ The last five percent of the ninety eight page first part of Coulomb's edge, with reference to Amontons' initial concepts and some later memoir is particularly interesting, since it is here that he provides a experimental indications of contrary behaviour in terms of time of simple and direct explanation of his experimental findings. He at­ repose, area of contact and cohesion. tributed the major component of friction to the intermeshing of The memoir is divided into two parts; the first dealing with the asperities and succeeded in finding explanations for his observations friction of sliding plane surfaces and the second with the stiffness of in terms of Musschenbroek's brush-bristle analogy. His results pro­ ropes and friction in rotating parts. His apparatus for the study of vided a basis for calculations by many generations of engineers and sliding friction between plane surfaces consisted of Une table tres his name is intimately linked with studies of friction to the present solide of substantial proportions, carefully prepared to form the lower day. surface of the sliding pair. Traineau or sledges of width 18 inches and various lengths were connected either directly to a weight or indirectly Summary via a lever to a weight by means of a rope which passed over a 1 ft. Like many of the great contributors to science, Coulomb was an diameter guaiac wood pulley mounted on a green oak shaft. Strips of all-rounder. He is perhaps best known for his contributions in the various widths were nailed to the underside of the sledge and weights fields of strength of materials, electricity and magnetism, but to tri- Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/tribology/article-pdf/100/2/148/5796303/148_1.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 of various magnitudes were added to the sledges to investigate the bologists his name is practically synonymous with friction. He un­ effect of apparent contact area and load respectively. The materials doubtedly completed the most comprehensive study of friction un­ tested, in various combinations, were oak, green oak, guaiac wood, dertaken in the eighteenth century. Some think of him as a physicist, fir and elm together with iron and yellow copper. Both dry and lu­ others as an engineer, but a brief survey shows that he achieved rec­ bricated conditions were studied, the lubricants being water, olive ognition as an outstanding military engineer long before embarking oil, tallow, axle grease and soot. Both smooth and rough surfaces were upon his great contributions to physics. investigated and the maximum speeds and pressures adequately In preparing this note I have enjoyed the generous help of Professor covered the range of practical conditions. Periods of repose ranging C. Stewart Gillmor of the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Con- from 0.5s to almost 4 days provided data of considerable importance neticut, U.S.A. Mr. C. A. Coulomb, Jr., kindly allowed the portrait in the development of Coulomb's theory of friction. of his great, great grandfather to grace the opening of this biographical Coulomb set out to investigate the influence of four main factors note. It appears that the portrait was completed between 1803 and upon friction. 1806. The marble bust which is also shown at the front of this note was 1. The nature of the materials in contact and their surface coat­ probably produced after the loan to the Academie des Sciences in 1850 ings. of the original portrait of Coulomb mentioned above. Permission to 2. The extent of the surface area. reproduce this picture of the marble bust of Coulomb was kindly 3. The normal pressure (or load). granted by the Musee du Conservatoire desArts et Metiers, Paris. 4. The length of time that the surfaces remained in contact (time I would like to acknowledge the search for material which Professor of repose). Robert Courtel of the Laboratoire de Mecanique des Surfaces, In later studies he considered the influence of ambient conditions C.N.R.S., Bellevue and Professor Maurice Godet of the Laboratoire like temperature, humidity and even vacuum. de Mecanique des Contacts, I.N.S.A., Lyon undertook on my behalf. Coulomb found that in most cases friction was almost proportional I can only hope that my appreciation of this opportunity to discover to load and independent of the size of the contacting surfaces. He something of the life of the man whose steps they now follow will be concluded that cohesion had a very small influence upon friction, but matched by their satisfaction with the views expressed on one of the he nevertheless retained a small constant (A) in the expression he greatest French tribologists of all times. adopted to relate friction to normal force. In the general case of a body of weight (P) resting upon a horizontal plane, the frictional resistance Bibliography to sliding (F) was written as, Gillmor, C. S. (1968), "Charles Augustin Coulomb: Physics and Engineering P in Eighteenth Century France," PhD dissertation, University of Princeton. F = A + - Gillmor, C. S. (1971), Coulomb and the Euolution of Physics and Engineering M in Eighteenth Century France, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New — (/x) being the inverse of the coefficient of friction. Jersey, U.S.A. Magee, W. S. (1963), "Historic Researches; No. 1. Friction—Coulomb and Coulomb was the first to use this two-term expression for friction. Morin's Experiments," The Engineer, p. 22, July 14,1944. Similar representations have become commonplace in recent times, The Engineer (1944), "Historic Researches; No. 1. Friction—Coulomb and with the first term (A) being attributed to adhesive or cohesive effects Morin's Experiments," The Engineer, p. 22, July 14,1944. and the second (P/M) to deformation or ploughing action. Bowden, F. P. and Tabor, D. (1964), "The Friction and Lubrication of Solids, Part II," Chapter XXIV, pp. 502-516, Oxford, Clarendon Press. A well known feature of Coulomb's work was his study of the rela­ Kragelsii, I. V. and Shchedrov, V. S. (1956), "Razvite Nauki o Treni," (Devel­ tionship between static and kinetic friction. He found that, in general, opment of the Science of Friction), Chapter 4, Investigations by Coulomb, the latter was smaller than the former, but that the difference was Soviet Academy of Sciences, Moscow. almost imperceptible for metals. The third law of friction, which states Coulomb, C. A. (1785), "Theorie des Machines Simples, En Ayant egard au frottement de leurs parties, et a la roideur des Cordages," Memoires de that coefficient of kinetic friction is independent of the sliding speed, Mathematique et de Physique, Tome X, a Paris MDCCLXXXV, pp 161- is attributed to Coulomb, but it is clear from his memoir that he was 342.

152 / VOL 100, APRIL 1978 Transactions of the ASME 5 ARTHUR-JULES MORIN (1795-1880)

" .... The results furnished by my experiments as to the relations between pressure, surface, and speed, on the one hand, and sliding friction on the other, have always been regarded by myself, not as mathematical laws, but as close approximations to the truth within the limits of the data of the experiments themselves." General A. Morin, Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, Paris, 15th March 1879. Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/tribology/article-pdf/100/2/148/5796303/148_1.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021

'. ~. Arthur-Jules Morin (1795-1880)

Biography On September 26th 1839 Morin took up the chair of Applied Me­ chanics at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers in Paris. It appears Arthur-Jules Morin belonged to that select group of Frenchmen that the chair had been created with Morin in mind. Four years later, who successfully combined a military career with outstanding work in December 1843, he was elected to the Academic des Sciences and in science and applied science. He achieved distinction in both science he became chairman of the mechanics section in succession to Coriolis. and military service, being a general, mathematician and scholar. He was elected Vice- President of the Academie in 1863 and President Rorn in Paris on October 17th 1795, he entered the Ecole Poly­ in 1864. In 1862 he was appointed President of the Societe des in­ technique in 1813 and left in 1815. For the next two years he displayed genieurs civils. some uncertainty about his career and spent the time working in an In 1848 the third French Revolution started in Paris. King Louis iron forge. In 1817 he was appointed to the Ecole d'application at Metz Philippe was driven from his throne and fled to England. A Republic as an artillery officer and assistant to Poncelet. He taught at Metz was then established in France based upon the principle of universal until 1839 and during this time he was promoted from lieutenant suffrage. Following, the events of 1848, Morin was appointed director (1817) to captain (1829). of the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers in succession to Claude

Journal of Lubrication Technology APRIL 1978, VOL 100 / 153 Pouillet. He held this post- until his death in 1880. On the establish­ rolling and sliding conditions. The value of his coefficients to engineers ment of the Second Empire, Morin's advice and help were frequently in the period of rapid expansion of machinery in general and the steam - sought by Napoleon III in carrying out his grandoise schemes for the engine in particular was enormous. Indeed, the utility of his work was reconstruction of Paris and other large French cities. In the latter such that engineers generally referred to Morin's, rather than to years of his life Morin was concerned with problems of ventilation for Coulomb's, coefficients of friction, even though much of the data theatres and other public buildings. available came from the latter's investigations. Morin played a full part on various public service committees. In Morin also undertook significant studies of rolling friction. He was 1850 he served as a member of the Commission set up to organize the concerned with the relationship between tractive force and the radius National Institute of Agronomy, and in the following year he was a of a wheel and concluded that a simple inverse relationship applied. member of the French Commission to the Great Exhibition of 1851 Dupuit disputed the result, having found that the force of friction was in London. General Poncelet and Colonel Morin were amongst the inversely related to the square root of the radius of the wheel. Al­ prominent foreign engineers who spoke at a banquet to recognize the though Morin's findings were accepted by the Academie, he was quite first London meeting of The Institution of Mechanical Engineers on willing to pursue the matter further. He subsequently repeated much the occasion of the Great Exhibition. He was President of the Imperial of the work and could be seen working with convoys of heavy vehicles Commission for the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1855. In 1867 The on the roads of France. Institution of Mechanical Engineers held its first Meeting in Paris. It is interesting to note that the historic Committee on Friction at Morin and Tresca read papers and both were subsequently elected High Velocities established by The Institution of Mechanical Engi­ Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/tribology/article-pdf/100/2/148/5796303/148_1.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 as Honorary Members of the Institution as recorded by Parsons neers in December 1878 consulted Morin about the influence of (1947). His zeal and patriotism found expression in the setting-up of pressure, surface and speed upon sliding friction early in 1879. His an International Commission to establish high precision metric reply, dated 15th March 1879, which was appended to Professor A. standard measures in 1869. For over ten years he was a member of the B. W. Kennedy's first report to the Council of the Institution in No­ Council for Public Instruction and he took a deep interest in both vember 1879, included the opening quotation of this biography. technical and liberal education. He was associated with the reorgan­ ization of the Ecole Polytechnique and was strongly in favour of the Summary widespread introduction of applied sciences at all levels in industrial Arthur-Jules Morin died in his eighty fifth year in the city of his schools. birth on 7th February 1880. Perhaps the best way to close this review During his time at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, Morin's of his life and to indicate the high esteem in which he was held, is to military standing was enhanced by steady promotion. He became a quote from Tesca's closing sentences spoken at the graveside. major in 1841, a lieutenant-colonel in 1846, a colonel in 1848, a brig­ "As a scholar his career was arduos, useful and full; in this career adier-general in 1852 and a divisional general in 1855. In 1852 he he attained his first rank. As a soldier, he saw where his duty lay commanded the artillery of the "camp du nord." He was made com­ in all circumstances, on the field of battle, as in committee; he had mander of the Legion d'Honneur in 1854. to wait for the first promotions, but he never complained; in con­ Arthur-Jules Morin was a specialist in mechanics. His interests trast, the highest ranks, as it were, were waiting for him to fill covered a wide range and he published on such topics as hydraulic them. machinery, projectiles, air resistance, the motion of falling bodies, As an administrator, his progress was rich in serious undertakings, practical mechanics, highway engineering and public works, steam and the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, alone, would do ample engines and, of course, friction. He invented numerous instruments honour to his memory. including a dynamometer and other devices to assist him with his His precious life was crowned by these three haloes, combined with investigations. He has been variously described as a mathematician that of a man of conscience and of sincere faith, who could always and a physicist, but much of his work on engineering problems was conduct himself in perfect accord with his convictions." characterized by carefully conducted and wide-ranging experi­ In preparing this account of the life of a great French Engineer and ments. contributor to the subject of friction, I have been helped greatly in Arthur-Jules Morin was a liberal and generous man. In the dis­ the collection of biographical information by Professor Maurice Godet course delivered at the funeral service to Morin, his colleague at the of the Institut National Des Sciences Appliquees de Lyon and Mr. R. Academie des Sciences, M. Tresca (1880), gave a number of illustra­ Butler of the South Library of The University of Leeds. The assistance tions of this judgement. At the age of 84 Morin visited his grandson of the Conservatoire National Des Arts and Metiers and the L'Ecole in all weathers to help him with his preparation for the examinations National Superieure Des Mines is also appreciated. I am also grateful for the Ecole de Saint-Cyr. He also intervened directly with the to Mrs. Juliet White for her invaluable translation of some of the Minister when the rights of a distinguished colleague were in jeopardy original documents. in 1851. Tresca's funeral oration provides clear evidence of his af­ fection and admiration for Morin. They had worked together for Bibliography nearly thirty years in the Conservatoire des Art et Metiers and Tresca described Morin as ... . "a great man whom I admired above all Morin, A. J. (1833), "Memoire concernant de nouvelles experiences sur le frottement faites a Metz en 1831," Paris Mem. Savans fitrang. IV., pp 1-128; others." Saint-Venant was another famous mechanician of the period Annal des Mines, IV; pp. 271-321. counted as a friend and fellow student of Arthur-Jules Morin. Morin, A. J. (1834), "Nouvelles experiences sur le frottement faites en 1832," Paris Mem. Savans Strang IV., pp 591-696; Annal des Mines, VI., pp. 73- 96. Friction Morin, A. i. (1834), "Lettre a M-Arago sur diverses experiences relatives an In the field of tribology Morin is noted for his studies of friction. frottement et au choc des corps," Annal de Chimie, LVI, pp. 194-198. The work was carried out in Metz before he moved to the chair in Morin, A. J. (1835), "Nouvelles experiences faites a Metz en 1833 sur le frotte­ Applied Mechanics in Paris. The investigations must have played an ment, sur la transmission due mouvement par le choc, sur la resistance des milieux imparfaits a la penetration des projectiles, et sur le frottement pendant important part in bringing his name to the attention of the authorities le choc," Paris, Mem. Savans Strang. VI, 1835 pp. 641-785; Annal des Mines, in the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers. It was half a century since X., 1836, pp. 27-56. Coulomb had undertaken his well known work, but Morin was to Morin, A. J. (1840), "Sur le tirage des coitures et sur les effects destructeurs adopt a similar approach to the problem of friction. Both men re­ qu'elles exercent sur les routes," Paris, Comptes Rendus, X., pp. 101-104. Morin, A. J. (1841), "Note sur le resistance au roulement des corps les uns sur sponded to military interests in the subject and Morin's first work on les autres, et sur la reaction elastique des corps qui se compriment recipro- "New Experiments in Friction" was undertaken between 1831 and quement," Paris, Comptes Rendus, XIII, pp. 1022-1023. 1833 on the orders of the Minister of War. Morin A. J. (1845), "Note sur le roideur des cordes," Paris, Comptes Rendus, XX, pp. 228-231. It appears that it was Morin who introduced the term and dem­ Academy of Sciences (1666-1954), "Biolographical Index of Members and onstrated the utility of the coefficient of friction. He devoted much Corresponding Members of the Academy of Science," (Morin, Arthur-Jules), effort to the determination and recording of friction coefficients for p. 370.

154 /VOL 100, APRIL 1978 Transactions of the ASME Hoefer, (1861), Nouvelle Biographic Generate, published by Frrmin Didot, Vol. Morin's Experiments," The Engineer, July 14, p. 22. 35, pp. 599-602. Parsons, R. H. (1947), "History of The Institution of Mechanical Engineers," Poggendorf, J. C. (1863), Biographisch Literansch Handworterbuch, pp. p. 18, 24, The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London. 208-209. (See also 1898 Edition). Kennedy, A. B. W. (1883), "First Report to the Council of The Committee on Tresca, M. (1880), "Discours Prononces aux Funfirailles De M. Morin, Membre Friction at High Velocities," (First issued 1879), Proceedings of The Institution de l'Academie des Sciences, Directeur du Conservatoire des Arts et Mfetiers," of Mechanical Engineers, Nov., pp. 660-667. pp. 1-9. Private Communication (1976), "Short Biography of General Morin," Miniature Ecole Polytechnique (1895), Book of the Centenary of the Ecole Polytechnique; De L-Education Nationale, Conservatoire National des Arts & Metiers, Bib- 1794-1894, Vol. 1,10. pp. 176-181, Gauthier-Villars, Paris. liotheque. The Engineer, (1944), "Historic Researches; No. 1—Friction:—Coulomb and Downloaded from http://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/tribology/article-pdf/100/2/148/5796303/148_1.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021

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