Maurice Lévy (February 28, 1838,

Ribeauvillé Ribeauvillé (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Rappschwihr''; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It was a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the de ...

– September 30, 1910,

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 ...

) 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 ...

and member of the

Institut de France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute m ...

. Lévy was born in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

. Educated at the

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

, where he was a student of Adhémar Jean Claude Barré de Saint-Venant,Osakada K., p.24 and the

École des Ponts et Chaussées École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

, he became an engineer in 1863. During the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), he was entrusted by the

Government of National Defense The Government of National Defense (french: Gouvernement de la Défense nationale) was the first government of the Third Republic of France from 4 September 1870 to 13 February 1871 during the Franco-Prussian War. It was formed after the proclam ...

with the control of part of the artillery. During the next decade he held several educational positions, becoming

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

at the

École Centrale The Ecoles Centrales Group is an alliance, consisting of following grandes écoles of engineering: * CentraleSupélec (formed by merger of École Centrale Paris and Supélec) established in 2015 * École centrale de Lille established in 1854 * ...

in 1875, member of the commission of the geodetic survey of France in 1879, and professor at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...

in 1885.

Total strain theory

Lévy changed the assumption, "the directions of principal strains coincide with those of the principal stresses", stated by Saint-Venant, to "the directions of increments of principal strains coincide with those of the principal stresses" and that was also the first attempt of using an incremental flow rule. In 1888 Lévy inaugurated a system of boat-traction by means of overhead cables. A trial system was installed between

Joinville-le-Pont Joinville-le-Pont () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. History The commune was created in 1791 under the name La Branche-du-Pont-de-Saint-Maur (literally "The Branch of Saint-Maur ...

and Saint-Maurice; it consisted of an endless cable which was kept in motion by powerful steam-engines and to which boats were attached and thus kept at a speed of four kilometers an hour. The system proved unsatisfactory, however.

Selected works

Lévy is the author of several works, including: * "La Statique Graphique et Ses Applications à l'Art des Constructions" (1874; 2d ed. 1887); * "Sur le Principe d'Énergie" (1888); * "Étude des Moyens de Traction des Bateaux: Le Halage Funiculaire" (with M. G. Pavie, 1894) Lévy also wrote papers on

kinematics Kinematics is a subfield of physics, developed in classical mechanics, that describes the Motion (physics), motion of points, Physical object, bodies (objects), and systems of bodies (groups of objects) without considering the forces that cause ...

mechanics Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objects r ...

, physical mathematics,

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...

, etc., in the "'' Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences''", the "'' Journal de l'École Polytechnique''", and the "''

Journal de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées The ''Journal de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées'' () is a French monthly scientific journal of mathematics, founded in 1836 by Joseph Liouville (editor: 1836–1874). The journal was originally published by Charles Louis Étienne Bachelier. A ...

''". Lévy was an officer of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

and of public instruction, and a member of the

Academy of Sciences An academy of sciences is a type of learned society or academy (as special scientific institution) dedicated to sciences that may or may not be state funded. Some state funded academies are tuned into national or royal (in case of the Unite ...

and of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Rome.

Notes

References

*
Article
by

Isidore Singer Isidore Singer (10 November 1859 – 20 February 1939) was an American encyclopedist and editor of ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'' and founder of the American League for the Rights of Man. Biography Singer was born in 1859 in Weisskirchen, M ...

Victor Rousseau Emanuel Victor Rousseau Emanuel (born Avigdor Rousseau Emanuel; January 1879 – 6 April 1960, Tarrytown, New York) was a British writer who wrote novels, newspaper series, science fiction and pulp fiction works. He was active in Great Britain and th ...

* C. E. Curinier, Dictionnaire national des contemporains, 1899 *Osakada K. The 9th International Conference on Technology of Plasticity, Plenary 4, p. 24, History of Plasticity and Metal Forming Analysis. {{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Maurice 1838 births 1910 deaths People from Ribeauvillé French engineers 19th-century French mathematicians 20th-century French mathematicians Members of the French Academy of Sciences Alsatian Jews École Polytechnique alumni Collège de France faculty