Darcy, Henry Philibert Gaspard

Lead Author: Cutler J. Cleveland (other articles)
Article Topics: Energy people, Environmental engineering and Water
This article has been reviewed and approved by the following Topic Editor: Tom Lawrence (other articles)
Last Updated: November 2, 2006

Henry Philibert Gaspard Darcy (1803-1858), a French scientist who made many important contributions to hydraulics. Darcy invented the modern style Pitot tube, a device for measuring the velocity of water. He stated Darcy’s Law (1856), a mathematical relationship that governs the flow of groundwater through granular media or the flow of other fluids through permeable material, such as petroleum through sandstone or limestone. As a leader of the Corps of Bridges and Roads in France, he built an impressive pressurized water distribution system in Dijon, France that carried fresh water from Rosoir Spring, 12.7 km away, through a covered aqueduct to reservoirs near the city, which then fed into a network of 28,000 meters of pressurized pipes delivering water to much of the city. The system was fully closed and pressurized by gravity, and thus required no filters or pumps.

Further Reading
Henry Darcy and His Law (Oklahoma State University, Department of Biosystems Engineering)
Lecture: Darcy's Law (The Earth Institute at Columbia University)

Citation
Cleveland, Cutler (Lead Author); Tom Lawrence (Topic Editor). 2006. "Darcy, Henry Philibert Gaspard." In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [Published in the Encyclopedia of Earth November 2, 2006; Retrieved January 7, 2009]. <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Darcy,_Henry_Philibert_Gaspard>
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