Talk:Charles Cagniard de la Tour

Latest comment: 3 years ago by Kermitchemist in topic The myth that he used a cannon barrel

WikiProject class rating edit

This article was automatically assessed because at least one article was rated and this bot brought all the other ratings up to at least that level. BetacommandBot 02:43, 27 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

The myth that he used a cannon barrel edit

It is a popular myth that Cagniard de la Tour used a cannon barrel in his critical point experiments. That myth was caused by a mis-translation of the original French. In his report, he said he used "un bout de canon de fusillade très epais." That translates to "the end of a thick-walled gun barrel". The French word "canon" means "gun", not necessarily the English word "cannon". Considering that he later picked up the gun and shook it beside his ear, it's very unlikely that it was what we in English would call a cannon.Kermitchemist (talk) 15:02, 30 August 2020 (UTC)Reply