baron Loránd Eötvös

Invention: Gravitational torsion balance, Law of capillarity

The University of Science in Budapest was named after Baron Lóránd Eötvös.

Dr. Baron Loránd Eötvös, physicist, professor, minister of education, was born in Buda and died in Budapest. He completed his education in Heidelberg, Germany.

The Torsion or Eötvös balance, designed by Baron Eötvös, is a sensitive instrument for measuring the density of underlying rock strata. The device measures not only the direction of force of gravity, but the change in the force of gravity's extent in horizontal plane. It determines the distribution of masses in the earth's crust. The Eötvös torsion balance, an important instrument of geodesy and geophysics throughout the whole world, studies the Earth's physical properties. It is used for mine exploration, and also in the search for minerals, such as oil, coal and ores.
Eötvös' law of capillarity served as a basis for Einstein's theory of relativity.

(Capillarity: the property or exertion of capillary attraction of repulsion, a force that is the resultant of adhesion, cohesion, and surface tension in liquids which are in contact with solids, causing the liquid surface to rise - or be depressed...)