Louis Carré (; 26 July 1663 – 17 April 1711) 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 member of the

French Academy of 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 was the author of one of the first books on

integral calculus In mathematics, an integral is the continuous analog of a sum, which is used to calculate areas, volumes, and their generalizations. Integration, the process of computing an integral, is one of the two fundamental operations of calculus,Int ...

Early life

Due to his father's wish that he become a priest, Carré studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

for several years but did not join the priesthood. He took a post as an

amanuensis An amanuensis ( ) ( ) or scribe is a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. It may also be a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority. In some aca ...

for philosopher

Nicolas Malebranche Nicolas Malebranche ( ; ; 6 August 1638 – 13 October 1715) was a French Oratorian Catholic priest and rationalist philosopher. In his works, he sought to synthesise the thought of St. Augustine and Descartes, in order to demonstrate the ...

, a mathematics professor at the Congregation of the Oratory, and tutored students as well. On February 4, 1699, he became a student of

Pierre Varignon Pierre Varignon (; 1654 – 23 December 1722) was a French mathematician. He was educated at the Society of Jesus, Jesuit College and the University of Caen, where he received his Magister Artium, M.A. in 1682. He took Holy Orders the following ...

at the Academy of Sciences. In 1700, his book ''Une méthode pour Ia mesure des surfaces, la dimension des solides, leurs centres de pesanteur, de percussion, et d'oscillation par l'application du calcul integral'' was published.

Publications

Between 1701 and 1705, Carré published over a dozen papers on a variety of mathematical and physical subjects: * ''Méthode pour la rectification des lignes courbes par les tangentes'' (1701) * ''Solution du problème proposé aux Géomètres dans les mémoires de Trévoux, des mois de Septembre et d'Octobre'' (1701) * ''Réflexions ajoutées par M Carré à la Table des Equations'' (1701) * ''Observation sur la cause de la réfraction de la lumière'' (1702) * ''Pourquoi les marées vont toujours en augmentant depuis Brest jusqu'à Saint-Malo, et en diminuant le long des côtes de Normandie'' (1702) * ''Nombre et noms des instruments de musique'' (1702) * ''Observations sur la vinaigre qui fait rouler de petites pierres sur un plan incline'' (1703) * ''Observation sur la rectification des caustiques par réflexions formées par le cercle, la cycloïde ordinaire, et la parabole, et de leurs développées, avec la mesure des espaces qu'elle renferment'' (1703) * ''Méthode pour la rectification des courbes'' (1704) * ''Observation sur ce qui produit le son'' (1704) * ''Examen d'une courbe formée par le moyen du cercle'' (1705) * ''Expériences physiques sur la réfraction des balles de mousquet dans l'eau, et sur la résistance de ce fluide'' (1705) * ''Problème d'hydrodynamique sur la proportion des tuyaux pour avoir une quantité d'eau déterminée'' (1705)

References

Members of the French Academy of Sciences 1663 births 1711 deaths People from Seine-et-Marne 17th-century French mathematicians 18th-century French mathematicians {{France-mathematician-stub