In this authoritative biography, James Hofmann examines the extraordinary life of Andre-Marie Ampere, who made original, significant contributions to mathematics and chemistry and is renowned for his new branch of physics - electrodynamics. A member of the Academie des Sciences, and professor at the Ecole Polytechnique, his accomplishments are remarkable in view of his tragic personal life. One of the elite of early nineteenth-century Parisian science, yet having no formal education, he embraced the scientific optimism of the Enlightenment, and the Catholic faith. This combination of...