POISEUILLE, JEAN-LOUIS-MARIE

born April 22, 1799, Paris, France died Dec. 26, 1869, Paris French physician and physiologist who formulated a mathematical expression for the flow rate for the laminar (nonturbulent) flow of fluids in circular tubes. Discovered independently by Gotthilf Hagen, a German hydraulic engineer, this relation is also known as the Hagen-Poiseuille equation. Poiseuille received his medical degree in 1828 and established his practice in Paris. His interest in the circulation of the blood led him to conduct a series of experiments on the flow of liquids in narrow tubes, from which he determined the law that bears his name. This equation states that the flow rate is determined by the viscosity of the fluid, the drop in pressure along the tube, and the tube diameter. He also is believed to be the first to have used the mercury manometer to measure blood pressure.