Charles Étienne Louis Camus (25 August 1699 – 2 February 1768), was a French

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

and

mechanician A mechanician is an engineer or a scientist working in the field of mechanics, or in a related or sub-field: engineering or computational mechanics, applied mechanics, geomechanics, biomechanics, and mechanics of materials. Names other than m ...

who was born at Crécy-en-Brie, near

Meaux Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...

. He studied mathematics, civil and military

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

, and

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

after leaving

Collège de Navarre The College of Navarre (, ) was one of the colleges of the historic University of Paris. It rivaled the University of Paris, Sorbonne and was renowned for its library. History The college was founded by Queen Joan I of Navarre in 1305, who provi ...

in Paris. In 1730 he was appointed professor of architecture and, in 1733, associate of the

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

. He also became a professor of

geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...

, secretary to the Academy of Architecture and fellow of the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

. In 1727 he presented a memoir to the academy on masting ships, in consequence of which he was named the same year joint mechanician to that body. In 1736 he accompanied

Pierre Louis Maupertuis Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (; ; 1698 – 27 July 1759) was a French mathematician, philosopher and man of letters. He became the director of the Académie des Sciences and the first president of the Prussian Academy of Science, at the ...

and

Alexis Clairaut Alexis Claude Clairaut (; ; 13 May 1713 – 17 May 1765) was a French mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist. He was a prominent Newtonian whose work helped to establish the validity of the principles and results that Isaac Newton, Sir Isaa ...

in the expedition to Lapland for the measurement of a degree of

meridian arc In geodesy and navigation, a meridian arc is the curve (geometry), curve between two points near the Earth's surface having the same longitude. The term may refer either to a arc (geometry), segment of the meridian (geography), meridian, or to its ...

. He was the author of a ''Cours de mathématiques'' (Paris, 1766), and a number of essays on mathematical and mechanical subjects. In 1760 he became perpetual secretary of the academy of architecture. He was also employed in a variety of public works, and in 1765 was chosen a fellow of the

. He died in 1768.

Works

* ''Traité des forces mouvantes'' ("Treatise of moving forces"); 1722. * ''Opérations faites pour mesurer le degré de méridienne entre Paris et Amiens''; 1757. * ''Cours de mathématique'' ("Course of mathematics"); 3 parts, 1749–52. ** Part 1: ''Élémens d'arithmétique'' (1749). ** Part 2: ''Élémens de géométrie, théorique et pratique'' (1750). ** Part 3: ''Élémens de méchanique statique'' (1751–52).Most widely held works by Charles-Étienne-Louis Camus
WorldCat Identities

External links

References

* 1699 births 1768 deaths People from Seine-et-Marne 18th-century French mathematicians Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the French Academy of Sciences Members of the Académie royale d'architecture {{France-mathematician-stub