1-158-133 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French chemist, physicist and balloonist, c1824. Gay-Lussac (1778-1850) investigated the behaviour of gases and developed techniques of chemical analysis. He was important in industrial chemistry for the introduction of lead chambers for the production of sulphuric acid. Gay-Lussac made balloon ascents to investigate terrestrial magnetism and composition and characteristics of the atmosphere at different altitudes. He determined that the same volume of any gas will expand equally in response to the same increase in temperature.