Eugène Adrien Ducretet, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetEugène Adrien Ducretet
Scientific instrument maker
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Paris, Île-de-France, France
About Eugène Adrien Ducretet
- Eugène Adrien Ducretet (November 27, 1844 – 1915) was a French scientific instrument manufacturer, who performed some of the first experiments on wireless telegraphy (radio communication) in France.
- His father, Louis Joseph Ducretet, was a Savoy textiles merchant who moved to Paris.
- He never completed a formal education, leaving primary school at age 15.
- After several years apprenticed to Paris engineer Paul-Gustav Froment, Ducretet opened his own workshop in 1864 at 21 Rue des Ursulines where with a few employees he manufactured classical physics research, teaching and demonstration apparatus, such as galvanometers, Wimshurst machines, and Crookes tubes.
- Over time his reputation grew and he became instrument supplier to several large Paris educational and scientific institutions.
- He was awarded a gold medal for his quality instruments at the 1878 Paris Universal Exposition and from then on his firm was a regular presence at important international expositions, winning another gold at the 1881 International Electricity Exposition in Paris.
- He was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1885. Ducretet's work brought him into close contact with many prominent physicists of his day, from whom he learned a lot.
- He continued his education, attending courses at the Sorbonne and College de France as a 'auditeur libre'.
- In 1897, hearing about Guglielmo Marconi's pioneering experiments in wireless telegraphy (radio transmission), he built a transmitter and receiver and began his own experiments, becoming the first person in France to transmit radio waves.
- In November 1897 he transmitted radio signals 400 meters between his workshop and the Panthéon, attracting the interest of French President Félix Faure.
- On November 5, 1898 he caused a sensation with a public demonstration of wireless communication in the presence of representatives of the Académie des Sciences between the third floor of the Eiffel Tower and the Panthéon 4 km away.
- In 1897 he wrote to Russian physicist Alexander Stepanovich Popov, who had invented one of the first practical radio receivers but had not developed it, suggesting a collaboration.
- In 1898 he began to build radiotelegraph equipment using the Popov design.
- Between 1899 and 1904 he sold some of the first wireless stations to the Russian Navy, but the company was too small to provide the volume Russia needed.
- With his partner Ernest Roger he invented a type of telegraph key used in wireless telegraphy transmitters.
- In 1901 he wrote a book on the construction of wireless equipmentDucretet married Amelie Vallat in 1866, and they had three children.
- When he died he left the company to his son Fernand and partner Ernst Roger.
- The company was sold to Thomson-Houston in 1931.
Read more at Wikipedia
See Also
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