Henri Gautier, sometimes called Hubert Gautier (21 August 1660 – 27 September 1737) was a French

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

. He was born in

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

, France.

Career

Gautier initially trained as a medical doctor, turning to mathematics and finally engineering. He served as an engineer for 28 years in the province of

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

. He was appointed Inspecteur général des ponts et chaussées in 1713, and moved 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 ...

where he continued working until his retirement in 1731. In 1716, he wrote the first book on building

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

s, ''Traité des ponts''.H. Gautier: ''Traité des Ponts''.
2nd Ed. André Cailleau, Paris 1728 He died in Paris, France at the age of 77.

Publications

Gautier wrote several published works on engineering, civil engineering and geology. *
La bibliotheque des philosophes, volumes I-II
' File:Gautier-1.jpg, 1723 copy of Volume I of "La bibliotheque des philosophes" File:Gautier-4.jpg, Title page to "La bibliotheque des philosophes" File:Gautier-5.jpg, Preface to "La bibliotheque des philosophes"

References

French civil engineers Corps des ponts French bridge engineers 1660 births 1737 deaths People from Nîmes {{France-engineer-stub