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, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

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 mechan ...

who was born at Crécy-en-Brie, near

Meaux Meaux () is a commune on the river Marne in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is east-northeast of the centre of Paris. Meaux is, with Provins, Torcy and Fontainebleau, ...

. 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 constructing building ...

, and

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

after leaving

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

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

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des 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 research. It was at the ...

. He also became a professor of

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 ...

, 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, re ...

. 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 Sir Isaac Newton had out ...

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

meridian arc In geodesy and navigation, a meridian arc is the curve between two points on the Earth's surface having the same longitude. The term may refer either to a segment of the meridian, or to its length. The purpose of measuring meridian arcs is to de ...

. He was the author of a ''Cours de mathématiques'' (Paris, 1766), and a number of essays on mathematical and mechanical subjects. Camus - Cours de mathématique

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