Science and technology in France has a long history dating back to the Académie des Sciences, founded by Louis XIV in 1666, at the suggestion of

Jean-Baptiste Colbert Jean-Baptiste Colbert (; 29 August 1619 – 6 September 1683) was a French statesman who served as First Minister of State from 1661 until his death in 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His lasting impact on the organization of the countr ...

, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. France's achievements in science and technology have been significant throughout the past centuries as France's economic growth and

industrialisation Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

process was slow and steady along the 18th and 19th centuries.

Research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

efforts form an integral part of the country's economy. Scientific research in the country is supported by industry, by the network of French universities and by higher education establishments outside the main framework,

Grandes écoles Grandes may refer to: * Agustín Muñoz Grandes, Spanish general and politician *Banksia ser. Grandes, a series of plant species native to Australia * Grandes y San Martín, a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain ...

. France was ranked 12th in the Global Innovation Index in 2022, up from 16th in 2019.

Historical overview

The tradition of scientific research in France can be traced back to the Scientific Revolution. France is home to some of the world's oldest universities (

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

, Paris) although they were, at the time of their foundation, more centered on philosophy, theology and law than on science.

Institutions

French écoles normales supérieures

* École Normale Supérieure * École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay * École Normale Supérieure de Lyon

Scientific fields

Physics

Radioactivity was discovered by Henri Becquerel in 1896. The theoretical foundations and mathematical framework of special relativity were laid by

Henri Poincaré Jules Henri Poincaré ( S: stress final syllable ; 29 April 1854 – 17 July 1912) was a French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and philosopher of science. He is often described as a polymath, and in mathematics as "The ...

, before Albert Einstein used them in 1905 and later.

Chemistry

The conservation of mass law was discovered by Antoine Lavoisier in 18th century France.

Mathematics

The

Cartesian Coordinate System A Cartesian coordinate system (, ) in a plane is a coordinate system that specifies each point uniquely by a pair of numerical coordinates, which are the signed distances to the point from two fixed perpendicular oriented lines, measured in t ...

was discovered by René Descartes in 1637 (and independently by Pierre de Fermat at the same period). The first

calculator An electronic calculator is typically a portable electronic device used to perform calculations, ranging from basic arithmetic to complex mathematics. The first solid-state electronic calculator was created in the early 1960s. Pocket-sized ...

Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal ( , , ; ; 19 June 1623 – 19 August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic Church, Catholic writer. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. Pa ...

( Pascaline) was made in 1642. Jean Marguin (1994), p. 48 (see also Adding machine) Probability theory was developed by Pierre de Fermat and

in the seventeenth century (with Gerolamo Cardano and

Christiaan Huygens Christiaan Huygens, Lord of Zeelhem, ( , , ; also spelled Huyghens; la, Hugenius; 14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor, who is regarded as one of the greatest scientists of ...

). France is home to 11

Fields Medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place every four years. The name of the award ho ...

ists, second only to the United States in number of

ists. The fictitious mathematician

Nicolas Bourbaki Nicolas Bourbaki () is the collective pseudonym of a group of mathematicians, predominantly French alumni of the École normale supérieure (Paris), École normale supérieure - PSL (ENS). Founded in 1934–1935, the Bourbaki group originally in ...

's "association of collaborators" is based at École Normale Supérieure in France.

Nuclear power

France carried out its first test of an atomic bomb in Algeria in 1960 and some operational French nuclear weapons became available in 1964. Then, France executed its first test of the much more powerful

hydrogen bomb A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...

over its South Pacific Ocean test range in 1968; this first hydrogen bomb was dropped from a

strategic bomber A strategic bomber is a medium- to long-range penetration bomber aircraft designed to drop large amounts of air-to-ground weaponry onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating the enemy's capacity to wage war. Unlike tactical bombers, ...

. France was the fourth de facto nuclear power after United States, Soviet Union and United Kingdom.

Space science

In 1965, France was the third nation, after the former USSR and the United States, to launch its own space satellite. The French no longer launch their own satellites, however, preferring instead to contribute to the European Space Agency.

References

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