VIEILLE, PAUL

born Sept. 2, 1854, Paris, Fr. died Jan. 14, 1934, Paris in full Paul-marie-eugne Vieille French scientist, known for his invention of smokeless powder. After studying with the chemist Marcellin Berthelot, Vieille collaborated with him in researches that led to important discoveries of the physics of shock waves (1881). He then undertook to solve the problem of harnessing the powerful but unstable substance nitrocellulose as a propellant charge to replace black powder. Utilizing the colloiding action of certain solvents, he molded the resultant gelatinous mass into shapes of controlled dimensions, resulting in the formation of an explosive that came to be known as Powder B, its French army designation (c. 1885); this was the first of the series of modern smokeless high explosives. Vieille made further contributions in the study of shock waves and pressures and on the stability of nitrocellulose.