François Isaac de Rivaz

Isaac de Rivaz
Isaac de Rivaz
Born	December 19, 1752(1752-12-19) Paris, Kingdom of France
Died	July 30, 1828(1828-07-30) (aged 75) Sion, Switzerland
Nationality	French and Swiss
Occupation	French politician, MP, Inventor
Known for	The world's first automobile powered by an 'internal combustion engine'

François Isaac de Rivaz (Paris, December 19, 1752 – Sion, July 30, 1828) was a French politician, chancellor, Deputé (Member of Parliament), entrepreneur and inventor. In retirement, as a Swiss citizen, circa 1807, he invented a hydrogen powered internal combustion engine with electric ignition. In 1808 he fitted it into a primitive working vehicle - 'the world's first internal combustion powered automobile'.^{[citation needed]}

Biography

François Isaac was born in Paris to a family from central Valais in the Savoy. In 1763 the family settled in Moutier in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The last two boys, Anne Joseph and Isaac came to settle in St. Gingolph in Valais. It is not known at which schools he studied, but he became fluent in Latin plus mastering mathematics and geometry, whilst continuing his study of mechanics throughout his life. He qualified as both a surveyor and notary.^[1]

He served as an officer in the French army from 1775, where he was trained in the functions of firearms and artillery. He also studied the ignition of combustible gases.^[1]

Isaac had many interests plus an intuitive and extremely curious mind which was driven by the demon of discovery. His experimental work was overflowing. He also experimented with steam-powered vehicles in the late 18th century.^[1]

Internal combustion engine

Main article: de Rivaz engine

World's first use of an internal combustion engine in a primitive automobile' - built by François Isaac de Rivaz in 1808

After retirement from the Army, living in Switzerland, he invented a primitive internal combustion engine which he constructed in 1807.^[2] It was powered by a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen manually ignited by electric spark, but the engine neither involved the in-cylinder compression, the crank, nor the connecting rod.^[2] A year later, Isaac built an early automobile for his new engine to power.^[2][3][4] His engine was never commercially successful.^{[clarification needed]}

Alternative claims for internal combustion engines

Coincidentally, in 1807 Nicéphore Niépce installed his 'moss, coal-dust and resin' fueled Pyréolophore internal combustion engine in a boat and powered up the river Saone in France to be granted a patent by the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. The discrete, virtually simultaneous, implementations of these two designs of internal combustion in different modes of transport means that the de Rivaz engine can be correctly described as 'the worlds first use of an internal combustion engine in an auto-mobile (in 1808)', whilst the 'Pyréolophore (in 1807) was the world's first use of an internal combustion engine in a ship'.^{[citation needed]}

Although de Rivaz's early work is credited as the first use of the internal combustion engine in an automobile, the further development and mass production of the invention never truly began until the late nineteenth century.

In 1824, the French physicist Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot scientifically established the thermodynamic theory of idealized heat engines. This highlighted^{[citation needed]} the shortcoming of these pioneering designs, whereby they needed a compression mechanism to increase the difference between the upper and lower working temperatures and potentially unlock sufficient power and efficiency. Gasoline was not used for internal combustion engines until 1870 when carburetors were invented to convert non-combustible liquid fuels into a combustible gaseous mixture form.

See also

• De Rivaz engine

• Timeline of transportation technology
• Timeline of hydrogen technologies
• History of the internal combustion engine

• Pyréolophore
• Nicéphore Niépce

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Michelet, Henri (1965). L'inventeur Isaac de Rivaz: 1752 - 1828. Editions Saint-Augustin. http://books.google.com/books?id=Wf-nrnUaZxAC&pg=PA26&dq=Fran%C3%A7ois+Isaac+de+Rivaz#v=onepage&q=1807&f=false. Retrieved 2011-05-28.  In French
2. ^ ^{a b c} Eckermann, Erik (2001). World History of the Automobile. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers. ISBN 0-7680-0800-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=yLZeQwqNmdgC&pg=PA18&dq=%22François+Isaac+de+Rivaz%22&cd=3#v=onepage&q=&f=false. 
3. ^ About.com: Inventors: The History of the Automobile - The Internal Combustion Engine and Early Gas-Powered Cars
4. ^ US 7137366  Page 10: : In the early nineteenth century, Francois Isaac de Rivaz of Switzerland invented a hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine.

External links

• 1807 Francois Isaac de Rivaz - internal combustion engine

Persondata
Name	Rivaz, Francois Isaac de
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 19, 1752
Place of birth	Paris, Kingdom of France
Date of death	July 30, 1828
Place of death	Sion, Switzerland