Charles-Édouard Guillaume
Swiss physicist (1861-1938)
Charles-Édouard Guillaume (French: [ʃaʁl edwaʁ gijom]; 15 February 1861 – 13 June 1938) was a Swiss physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1920 "for the service he had rendered to precision measurements in physics by his discovery of anomalies in nickel steel alloys." In 1919, he gave the fifth Guthrie Lecture at the Institute of Physics in London with the title "The Anomaly of the Nickel-Steels."
Personal life
Charles-Edouard Guillaume was born on 15 February 1861 in Fleurier, Switzerland, into a family of French descent. Guillaume received his early education in Neuchâtel, and obtained his Ph.D. in Physics from the Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich (now ETH Zurich) in 1883.
In 1888, Guillaume married A. M. Taufflieb, with whom he had three children.
Guillaume died on 13 June 1938 in Sèvres, Paris, at the age of 77. He was a Christian.
Scientific career
Guillaume was head of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. He also worked with Kristian Birkeland, serving at the Observatoire de Paris – Section de Meudon. He conducted several experiments with thermostatic measurements at the observatory.
Nickel–steel alloy
Guillaume is known for his discovery of nickel–steel alloys he named invar, elinvar and platinite, also known as red platinum. Invar has a near-zero coefficient of thermal expansion, making it useful in constructing precision instruments whose dimensions need to remain constant in spite of varying temperature.
The public source identifies “Charles-Édouard Guillaume” as swiss physicist (1861-1938). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Charles-Édouard, Guillaume and Swiss.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Charles-Édouard Guillaume”, the useful work is to connect “swiss physicist (1861-1938)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q123026. VIAF identifies the subject as 114478573. The Library of Congress control number is n92030194. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1861, 1938, 1920 and 1919.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Charles-Édouard Guillaume”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Charles-Édouard Guillaume primary sources, Charles-Édouard Guillaume archive and Charles-Édouard research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Charles-Édouard Guillaume”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Charles-Édouard Guillaume” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.