Jules Piccard

Jules Piccard, also known as Julius Piccard (20 September 1840, in Lausanne – 11 April 1933, in Lausanne) was a Swiss chemist. He was the father of twins Auguste Piccard (1884–1962) and Jean Felix Piccard (1884–1963), both renowned balloonists.

Jules Piccard

He studied chemistry at the University of Heidelberg as a student of Robert Bunsen, receiving his doctorate in 1862. Shortly afterwards, he obtained his habilitation at the polytechnical institute in Zürich. From 1869 to 1903 he was a professor of chemistry at the University of Basel.^[1][2]

He made contributions in the field of food chemistry and in his research of cantharidin, dinitrocresol, chrysin and resorcinol.^[2][3] He is also known for his studies involving the atomic weight of rubidium.^[4]

Selected writings

• De l'évaluation mécanique des surfaces planes, (with S. Cuénoud 1861) – On the mechanical evaluation of plane surfaces.
• Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Rubidiumverbindungen, 1862 – Contributions regarding rubidium compounds.
• L'avenir de l'agriculture d'après M. de Liebig : compte-rendu de l'introduction à la septième éd. de son ouvrage sur la Chimie agricole, 1862 – The future of agriculture in regards to Justus von Liebig.
• Chemisch-geognostische Mittheilungen, 1866 – Chemical-geognostic reports.
• Bernoullianum : Anstalt für Physik, Chemie und Astronomie an der Universität Basel : Beschreibung und Pläne (with Eduard Hagenbach-Bischoff and Johann Jacob Stehlin, 1876) – Bernoullianum Institute of Physics, Chemistry and Astronomy at the University of Basel.
• Produits chimiques et pharmaceutiques : rapport, 1879 – Chemical and pharmaceutical products.
• Rapport supplémentaire sur la question des brevets d'invention appliqués aux industries chimiques, 1881 – Supplementary report on the question of patents for the chemical industry.
• Louis Rütimeyer, 1897 – Biography of Ludwig Rütimeyer.^[5]