Date context
1775–1836
Self-study and teaching
Ampère grew up near Lyon and was largely educated at home. Teaching led him into professional academic work. He investigated probability, analysis and chemistry and taught mathematics at the École Polytechnique, establishing a broad career before his best-known electrical research.
References: [1]
How currents act on each other
After reports of Ørsted’s magnetic-needle experiment reached Paris in 1820, Ampère rapidly investigated the attraction and repulsion of current-carrying wires. Direction and geometrical arrangement became part of an attempt to give the connection between electricity and magnetism a quantitative description.
References: [1]
Organizing electrodynamics
Throughout the 1820s he developed his theory, presenting a systematic account in 1826. He represented magnetism using small closed currents. This historical model influenced later electromagnetism but is distinct from the modern quantum explanation of magnetic behaviour in matter.
References: [1]
Experimental apparatus and teaching
Ampère also taught physics at the Collège de France. The institution preserves the experimental apparatus known as Ampère’s table. Instruments, publications and teaching records together provide evidence for how his theoretical proposals were connected to practical demonstrations.