Charles-Augustin de Coulomb
1736 – 1806
Quantified friction and electrostatic force.
A French military engineer, Coulomb quantified both friction and the electrostatic force in the 1780s. His law of friction still governs the friction and bolt-torque tools here; the unit of electric charge bears his name.
He came to physics after a career building fortifications, which is why his friction work reads like an engineer's, not a philosopher's — measured, practical, and still used.
Portrait: a stylized blueprint-line rendering, not a photograph.
Contributions in the toolbox
- 1776
Wedge theory of earth pressure — soil mechanics begins.
→ Rankine Earth Pressure - 1784
Torsion of wires quantified — the torsion balance.
→ Shaft Torsion (Solid Round) - 1785
Static vs kinetic friction; the engineering model completed.
→ Friction Force