Charles C.-J. Le Roux (born 1724) was a French

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

, and

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

. Le Roux began teaching around 1758 in

Amiens, France Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department i ...

, and relocated to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

some ten years or so after that, working there as Maître de Pension at a boarding school. During this time, he also held public scientific experiments and became the main author of the Journal d’Éducation, the first periodical dedicated to the educational landscape in France. In this publication, he advocated for a different approach to teaching children: specifically one with less emphasis on learning

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

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, and more consideration placed towards the character and quality of the instruction itself. He was also an inventor and created a waterproof and windproof fabric which could be made into

diving suit A diving suit is a garment or device designed to protect a diver from the underwater environment. A diving suit may also incorporate a breathing gas supply (such as for a standard diving dress or atmospheric diving suit). but in most cases the te ...

s. Le Roux became acquainted with

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

through their mutual interest in

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

and school-reform, and Franklin would often receive invitations to Le Roux's experiments. He was elected as a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

in 1775. By 1780 Le Roux had earned the title Physicien en l’Université de Paris, though his journal seemed to have run dry of funding by this time, and Le Roux wrote to Franklin proposing an extension to the project. This, however, never came to fruition.

References

1724 births Year of death unknown Members of the American Philosophical Society French educators {{cat improve, date=June 2021