AP News, May 22nd, 2007
Nobel Prize-winning scientist Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, who was dubbed the "Isaac Newton of our time" for his pioneering research on liquid crystals, has died. He was 74.
He died Friday in Orsay, a suburb of Paris, Le Monde reported Tuesday. A relative confirmed the death but provided no details.
De Gennes was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1991 for his breakthrough work on liquid crystals, a substance that has the properties of both a liquid and a solid and is now used in televisions and computer screens.
On awarding the prize, the jury called de Gennes the "Isaac Newton of our time."
De Gennes rejected the comparison with the English scientist, chalking the description up to the "Nordic lyricism" of the Stockholm-based award's jury, French media reported.
De Gennes was home-schooled by his parents and later attended Paris' elite Ecole Normale Superieure university, according to Le Monde. After graduating, he began research on atomic energy and magnetism.
While other laboratories were paralyzed by the student riots that shook France in 1968, Gennes brought together several teams of researchers to work on liquid crystals, Le Monde said. His work helped make France a world leader in the field.
New French President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed de Gennes' "immense talent," calling him "an exceptional physicist and one of our greatest scientists."
"This great researcher ... didn't stop transmitting his love of science to generations of students as well as the general public, Sarkozy said.
Minister for Higher Education Valerie Pecresse called de Gennes the "perfect example of the teacher-scientist."
De Gennes was a member of France's Academy of Science. A high school in Digne-les-Bains, in southern France, and a square in Orsay both bear his name.
He is survived by his wife and three children. A private funeral was planned for Wednesday.
