He was a French physicist and chemist. He worked on the specific heat capacity and the expansion and refractive indices of gases. In chemistry, he contributed to knowledge on: the double decomposition of salts(1811), nitrous acid (1815), the oxides of phosphorus (1816), and the oxides of nitrogen, catalysis by metals (1823, with Thénard). He discovered the dangerously sensitive nitrogen trichloride in 1812, losing two fingers and an eye in the process.

1. "The Road to Karlsruhe" article in the Hexagon of Alpha Chi Sigma
   
   
2. Photographs of Paris, France 7