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The Solvay Science Project

The polarimeter

Robert Descamps was described as a ‘good chemist and a good physicist’.


With the aid of financial support from the board of directors of the International Solvay Institute for Chemistry, he received the equipment he needed in order to carry out his research and build his polarimeter.

In a report to the board of directors of the International Solvay Institute for Chemistry, Robert Descamps proposed three methods for reading the results obtained using his polarimeter. With the aid of this polarimeter, he developed a process with which to study rotatory dispersion (ordinary or magnetic) in the ultraviolet spectrum.

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Lettre d'Aimé Cotton à la Commission administrative de l'Institut international de chimie Solvay, 19 octobre 1924

Aimé Cotton, director of the physics research laboratory at the Sorbonne, writes to the board of directors of the International Solvay Institute for Chemistry in support of the subsidy application submitted by Robert Descamps. 

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« Le principe du polarimètre »

1. Source lumineuse
2. Lumière non polarisée
3. Polariseur
4. Lumière polarisée
5. Cellule d'échantillon
6. Pouvoir rotatoire: 30°
7. Analyseur tournant
8. Observateur

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Lettre signée « le Directeur Commercial » à Robert Descamps, 14  janvier 1926

The ‘Commercial Director’ confirms that he can send equipment to Robert Descamps from Berlin. The equipment ordered may be exempted from customs duties, provided that Robert Descamps can demonstrate that it will be used for research purposes.

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Académie des sciences, « Mémoires et communications des membres et des correspondants de l'académie. Séance du 4 janvier 1926. »

From page 2 onwards, we find the account of a presentation by Aimé Cotton and Robert Descamps on the uses of the polarimeter. This presentation took place on 28 December 1925 at the French Academy of sciences. 

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Graphique du nombre atomique sur le poids atomique effectué à l’aide du polarimètre de Robert Descamps

Graph attached with the ‘Report submitted to Messrs the Members of the board of directors of the International Solvay Institute for Chemistry: On the creation of a new device for measuring the rotatory dispersion of ultraviolet’.

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« Rapport présenté à Messieurs les Membres de la Commission administrative de l'Institut International de Chimie Solvay : Sur la réalisation d'un appareil nouveau pour la mesure de la dispersion rotatoire de l'ultra-violet »

Report submitted by Robert Descamps to the board of directors of the International Solvay Institute for Chemistry in order to justify the use of the subsidies granted for construction of the polarimeter.