Marie Ampère was a French mathematician, chemist, and philosopher who founded the science of electrodynamics. The unit of measure for electric current was named in his honor.
Ampère's genius, particularly in mathematics, became evident early in his life: he had mastered advanced mathematics by the age of 12. In his first publication, Considerations on the Mathematical Theory of Games, an early contribution to the theory of probability, he proposed the inevitability of a player losing a game of chance to a player with greater financial resources.
Ampère is credited with the discovery of electromagnetism–the relationship between electric current and magnetic fields. His work in this field was influenced by the findings of Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted. Ampère presented a series of papers expounding the theory and basic laws of electromagnetism, which he called electrodynamics, to differentiate it from the study of stationary electric forces, which he called electrostatics.
The culmination of Ampère's studies came in 1827 when he published his Mathematical Theory of Electrodynamic Phenomena Deduced Solely from Experiment, in which he derived precise mathematical formulations of electromagnetism, notably Ampère's law.
Many stories are told of Ampère's absent-mindedness, a trait he shared with Newton. In one instance, he forgot to honor an invitation to dine with the Emperor Napoleon.
Ampère's personal life was filled with tragedy. His father, a wealthy city official, was guillotined during the French Revolution; and his wife's death in 1803 was a major blow. Ampère died at the age of 63 of pneumonia. His judgment of his life is clear from the epitaph he chose for his gravestone: Tandem felix (Happy at last).