A clockmaker, Peltier retired when he was 30 years old to devote his time to scientific investigations. In 1840 he introduced the concept of electrostatic induction, a method of charging a conductor by closely juxtaposing another charged object to attract all charges of one sign and then grounding the conductor to bleed off the other group of charges, leaving a net charge behind. He wrote numerous papers on atmospheric electricity, waterspouts, and the boiling point at high elevations.