FOREL

SWITZERLAND (see also List of Individuals)

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2.2.1841 Morges/CH - 8.8.1912 Morges/CH

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François Alphonse Forel graduated as a scientist from Académie de Genève in 1863. For two years he studied medicine in Montpellier to complete his medical degree at Würzburg University, Germany. In 1870 he joined Académie de Lausanne where he taught general anatomy and physiology for twenty-five years. In parallel he made limnological studies.

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Forel may be considered a founder of limnology. His first research was on the profundal fauna of Lake Geneva discovered while attempting to learn whether the lake bottom had ripple marks indicating bottom waves. Whereas others had already studied the profundal fauna in the sea, Forel discovered their existence in deep lakes. In 1869 Forel began studying the seiches of Lake Geneva by measuring their magnitude and duration at various points of the lake and comparing his data with others derived from experimental models. Seiches are mass oscillations in large water bodies that occur in lakes somewhat smaller than Lake Geneva. Forel turned to the study of the causes for seiches existence and concluded in 1878 mainly wind, rain and atmospheric pressure variations. His studies in meteorology were connected with his interest in variations of the level of Lake Geneva, as was his interest in glaciology. In 1892, Forel published his three volume work on Lake Geneva, probably the most detailed study related to a single lake. The first two volumes are devoted to physical lake features including geography, hydrography, temperature, optics, acoustics and chemistry. The third volume is mainly concerned with biology, in addition to history, navigation and fishery. The 1901 monograph is an abridged version of the former text.

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_{Anonymous (1899). F.A. Forel. Umschau 3: 782. P}

_{Blanc, H. (1912). Prof. Dr. François Alphonse Forel. Verhandlungen Schweizerische Naturforschende Gesellschaft 95: 110-148, with bibliography. P}

_{Egerton, F.N. (1981). Forel. Dictionary of scientific biography Supp 1: 158-159.}

_{Forel, F.A. (1875). Vagues d'oscillations fixe de lacs. Verhandlungen Schweizerische Naturforschende Gesellschaft 58: 157-168.}

_{Forel, F.A. (1885). La formule des seiches. Archives des Sciences physiques et naturelles}

_{Genève, Série 3 14: 203-214.}

_{Forel, F.A. (1892). Le Léman: Monographie limnologique. Rouge: Lausanne. Forel, F.A. (1901). Handbuch der Seenkunde. Engelhorn: Stuttgart.}

_{Forel, F.A. (1902). L'histoire de la théorie des seiches. Verhandlungen Schweizerische Naturforschende Gesellschaft 85: 1-30.}