Lucien Rouzet - Discoveries and Inventions

Discoveries and Inventions

Rouzet invented the logarithmical variable condenser.

After his military service as a telegrapher, he reenlisted, contributing his most important invention, a wireless telegraph system allowing aircraft communications at unequalled distances at that time. The invention played a major part during World War I.

Fond of music, he studied the tuning principles of instruments, and, using as a basis Mercadier’s and Marie Alfred Cornu’s experiments on the relationship between the frequencies of fundamental chords, he developed a theory called rational scale, which took into account the different "colours" of a single theme played in different keys. This theory was awarded a prize by the Académie Nationale de Metz (National Academy of Metz), a member of which he became, and by the “Société d'Encouragement pour l'Industrie Nationale” (Society of Encouragement for National Industry). But the supporters of the simple chromatic scale remained unconvinced, and their theory was maintained.

Unsatisfied with the principles that were considered the basis of thermodynamics, he devoted himself to the study of that field of physics and brought forward a theory based on other new grounds, to give better explanations for some physical and chemical phenomena. His theory was short-lived. Nevertheless, he carried on with more exhaustive researches in that field where he obtained major developments. After his death, the theory was presented to the CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research), "who recognized the relevance of it”, but said that "the principles taught at present, as imperfect as they may be, were sufficient practically speaking."

Because of later technological developments, his inventions became obsolete; and his theoretical contributions having not had the expected outcome, his work is nowadays completely unknown.