Charles Nordmann

Born in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, on May 18, 1881, and later active in France, Charles Nordmann worked at the Nice Observatory and then the Paris Observatory. Early in his career he tried to detect radio waves from the Sun—an ambitious experiment on the slopes of Mont Blanc that came too early to succeed, but which later earned him a place among the pioneers of radio astronomy.

At the Paris Observatory, he developed new multicolor photometry methods for studying stars. During World War I, he also worked on sound-ranging techniques used to locate enemy artillery, a contribution that was recognized with military and state honors.

Nordmann was not only a researcher but also a gifted popularizer of science. He wrote widely for French periodicals, especially Revue des Deux Mondes, and published accessible books including Einstein et l’univers: une lueur dans le mystère des choses (1921) and the war memoir À coups de canon (1917). His work blends scientific curiosity with a clear desire to make difficult ideas feel close and understandable.