Ampère, André Marie

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Ampère, André Marie (1775–1836) French physicist and mathematician. He founded electrodynamics (now called electromagnetism) and performed numerous experiments to investigate the magnetic effects of electric currents. He devised techniques for detecting and measuring currents, and constructed an early type of galvanometer. Ampère's law (proposed by him) is a mathematical description of the magnetic force between two electric currents. His name is also commemorated in the fundamental unit of current, the ampere (A).

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