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Raoul Pictet

1846 – 1929

Swiss physicist

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About Raoul Pictet

Lived 1846 – 1929 (aged 83). Raoul Pictet was a Swiss physicist, university teacher and chemist, known for Liquid nitrogen.

Raoul-Pierre Pictet (4 April 1846 – 27 July 1929) was a Swiss physicist. Pictet is co-credited with French scientist Louis-Paul Cailletet as the first to produce liquid oxygen in 1877.

Biography Pictet was born in Geneva. He served as professor in the university of that city. He devoted himself largely to problems involving the production of low temperatures and the liquefaction and solidification of gases.

On December 22, 1877, the Academy of Sciences in Paris received a telegram from Pictet in Geneva reading as follows: Oxygen liquefied to-day under 320 atmospheres and 140 degrees of cold by combined use of sulfurous and carbonic acid. This announcement was almost simultaneous with that of Cailletet who had liquefied oxygen by a completely different process.

Pictet died in Paris in 1929.

Works

Nouvelles machines frigorifiques basées sur l'emploi de phénomènes physicochimiques (1895) Étude critique du matérialisme et du spiritualisme par la physique expérimentale (1896) L'acétylène (1896) Le carbide (1896) Zur mechanischen Theorie der Explosivstoffe (1902) Die Theorie der Apparate zur Herstellung flüssiger Luft mit Entspannung (1903)

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Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Known for
Liquid nitrogen
Education
University of Geneva
Employers
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, University of Geneva, Cairo University
Awards
Davy Medal; Honorary member of the Physics Association (Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
Also known as
Raoul-Pierre Pictet

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Raoul Pictet's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Raoul Pictet?

Swiss physicist (1846-1929)

When was Raoul Pictet born?

Raoul Pictet was born on 4 April 1846 in Geneva.

When did Raoul Pictet die?

Raoul Pictet died on 27 July 1929 in Paris.

What was Raoul Pictet's occupation?

Raoul Pictet was a physicist, university teacher and chemist.

What was Raoul Pictet known for?

Raoul Pictet was known for Liquid nitrogen.

What nationality was Raoul Pictet?

Raoul Pictet was Swiss.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Raoul Pictet

· Wikidata: Q124128

· DBpedia: Raoul Pictet

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Raoul Pictet. https://biography.guide/raoul-pictet/

MLA: "Raoul Pictet." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/raoul-pictet/.

Chicago: "Raoul Pictet." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/raoul-pictet/.

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