French mathematician and physicist who extended Oersted's results by showing that the deflection of a compass relative to an electrical current obeyed the right hand rule. Ampère argued that magnetism could be explained by electric currents in molecules, and invented the solenoid, which behaved as a bar magnet. Ampère also showed that parallel wires with current in the same direction attract, those with current in opposite directions repel. He dubbed the study of currents electrodynamics, and also developed a wave theory of heat. Ampère maintained that magnetic forces were linear, but this proposition was questioned and disproved by Faraday.

Additional biographies: MacTutor (St. Andrews)