Charles-Gaspard de la Rive

“Ah, bon jour, Mario! I am here to see my old friend Michael Faraday. I am Professor Gaspard de la Rive, visiting scientist from Geneva. Have some Swiss chocolate, which we are famous for.”

—Charles-Gaspard de la Rive, Mario's Time Machine

Professor Charles-Gaspard de la Rive was a Swiss doctor and physicist. He was born in Geneva in 1770. He corresponded regularly with Humphry Davy and his assistant, Michael Faraday, through letters and the occasional visit. In Mario's Time Machine, he meets Mario while the former travels to London in 1831 to meet Faraday and the latter travels back in time to London to return Faraday's Magnet.

History

Mario's Time Machine

According to Mario's Time Machine, Charles-Gaspard de la Rive was in London circa 1831 when he meets a time-traveling Mario. While he speaks in English, his dialogue is interspersed with mangled bits of French. At the beginning of their conversation, Mario introduces himself and asks him who he is, and he responds by giving his name, describing himself as "a visiting scientist from Geneva", and giving Mario some Chocolate as an introductory gift. Mario then shows De la Rive the Magnet in his possession; De la Rive recognizes it as a magnet and mentions how Faraday further researched electromagnetism after the initial discovery by Hans Christian Ørsted. Mario is confused by the term "electromagnetism", and De la Rive defines it as "a branch of science that deals with the relationship between electricity and magnetism." Mario asks if the two have a good relationship, and De la Rive says that because a current of electricity can produce magnetism, Faraday is attempting to find if the opposite is true. He also comments that Mario would be a good scientist, since he asks so many questions. Mario wonders out loud when De la Rive first met Faraday, since he seems to know a lot about him, and he replies that he first met Faraday in 1813, while Humphry Davy went around Europe with Faraday as an assistant. While Davy's wife insisted on treating Faraday as a valet, De la Rive recognized Faraday as a proper scientist. He goes on to praise Faraday as a great scientist, but then remarks that he has lost the ticket needed to attend Faraday's upcoming lecture. Mario promptly gives him a Ticket of his own, and De la Rive thanks Mario. He then talks about one of Faraday's previous lectures, in which he threw a shovel, a pair of tongs, a poker, and other metallic items at an electromagnet to demonstrate how they were magnetised to it. Mario comments that Faraday seems to have fun with science, and De la Rive says that, while he does enjoy it, he is serious about his work, though he does not mind if it leads him to nothing practical or lucrative. Mario then asks what else Faraday has worked on, and De la Rive mentions Faraday's work as a chemist, notably isolating the chemical compound benzene in 1825. He ends the conversation by describing more of Faraday's past work, including his research into converting some gases into liquids and his creation of steel that does not rust, although De la Rive believes that Faraday's current research with electromagnets may be his most important project yet.